Pluvialis fulva
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) is a migratory shorebird that breeds during summer in Alaska and Siberia. During nonbreeding season, this medium-sized plover migrates widely across the Pacific. The Pacific golden plover was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the other plovers in the genus Charadrius and coined the binomial name Charadrius fulvus. Gmelin based his description on the "Fulvous plover" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham from specimens from Tahiti. The Pacific golden plover is now placed in the genus Pluvialis that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from pluvia, 'rain'. It was believed that the plovers flocked when rain was imminent. The specific epithet is also from Latin and means 'tawny' or 'yellowish-brown'. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
Adults are about 25 cm (9.8 in) long with a wingspan averaging 61 cm (24 in) At their lightest, fat free,... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wilpattu National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 3 | Raja Ampat | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Sundarbans National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 7 | Katmai National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 13 | Rottnest Island | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 14 | El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 15 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 16 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 17 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 18 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quanzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 2 | Naha | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 3 | Vasai-Virar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 5 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Nanchang | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 8 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 9 | Makassar | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 10 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Beijing Wildlife Park | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Honolulu Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Golden-Plover sighting in Thrissur on a given day, based on 124 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 126th most-seen of the 217 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Golden-Plover in Thrissur on a given day, against under 5% in March–October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Thrissur's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 440 mm in June.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Golden-Plover sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 48
Of the 48 cities where we can rate Pacific Golden-Plover sightings, Thrissur ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Quanzhou (China, about 20%), Naha (Japan, about 20%) and Vasai-Virar (India, about 10%).
Same family: Charadriidae
The closest relatives of the Pacific Golden-Plover that you can see in Thrissur (family Charadriidae, Plovers and Lapwings) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 50%) and Yellow-wattled Lapwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Golden-Plover is recorded against all the birds logged in Thrissur (124 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
