| Birds |
Western Snowy Plover
Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus
| Conservation Status: Threatened - Protected
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- © Tom Grey. Used with permission.
- Mother and chick
The Western Snowy Plover is one of two Snowy Plover subspecies recognized in North America. The Pacific coast population, C. alexandrinus nivosus, is defined as the population that exists from the coast to 80 km (50 mi) inland. These birds nest on the mainland coast, peninsulas, offshore islands, and in bays, estuaries, or river outlets in Washington, Oregon, California, and Baja California, Mexico. The population is distinct from the one that breeds in the US western interior and it is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. The west coast population uses 20 Pacific coast breeding sites with the largest in south San Francisco Bay where there are about 500 breeding pairs.
Facts and Features
- Geographic Distribution
West coast from Washington to Baja California, Mexico and in some interior western states. Permanent California resident populations
- Amazing Facts
Western Snowy Plovers have a unique way to catch a meal of kelp or wrack flies. Encountering a mass of the flies on the beach, a plover runs through the cloud of insects with its mouth open, snapping at them to catch them in mid-air.
- At the Aquarium
Our birds came to us from The Monterey Bay Aquarium where they were bred in a protected environment.