Andy Urquhart found a European Golden-Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) associating with two American Golden-Plovers at Wick's Potato Farm in Delaware on 14 September. Most interesting, it is described to "essentially (be) unknown as a fall migrant, even from the Maritimes or Newfoundland" (ABA Checklist, Seventh Edition, Pranty, et. al.). It is an ABA Code-4 species.
European Golden-Plover has a rounder body and shorter legs than American Golden-Plover and breeds from eastern Greenland and Iceland to western Siberia. It winters from Western Europe to North Africa and the Middle East. On its breeding grounds, it breeds on dry heath tundra, punctuated with tussocks, not unlike the habitats preferred by American Golden-Plover. It is one of the shorebird species that migrates both in the daytime and at night (The Shorebird Guide, Michael O'Brien, et. al.). Michael confirmed the identification today.
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