Wilson's Plover

About the Wilson's Plover

Wilson's Plover is a medium-small shorebird, sandy brown above and white below, with a single dark breast band and an oversized, all-black bill that sets it apart from every similar plover. Males show a blacker band and forehead in breeding plumage.

That heavy bill is a specialist's tool: Wilson's Plovers feed heavily on fiddler crabs, which they run down and seize on open flats. They nest in a bare scrape above the tide line on beaches, shell ridges, and sandflats, where the sitting bird and its speckled eggs are nearly invisible against the ground.

The species breeds along the Texas coast from spring through summer and is present in smaller numbers year-round. Because it nests on open beaches, it is vulnerable to disturbance from people, vehicles, and loose dogs.