Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Development

No data available.

Vocal Array

Known repertoires are incomplete. Many vocalizations of the American Golden-Plover and Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) are similar, but often distinctive during breeding and non-breeding seasons. Calls of the Pacific Golden-Plover are somewhat better known than those of the American Golden-Plover. Nine types of vocalizations are described here. On the breeding grounds, individuals have (1) a Repetitive Call accompanying territorial display flight by males; (2) a Complex Whistle used in aggression and intrapair communication; and a variety of monosyllabic and polysyllabic calls including (3) Alarm/Distraction Calls, (4) Aggression Calls, (5) Courtship Calls, and (6) Intrapair Calls. In the nonbreeding season, they have (7) Flight Calls, (8) Alarm Calls, and (9) Aggression Calls (the last two calls are best known in the Pacific Golden-Plover).

Breeding Season

Repetitive Call. This is also termed the "rhythmically repeated call" (72 Miller, E. H. (1996a). Acoustic differentiation and speciation in shorebirds. In Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds (D. E. Kroodsma and E. H. Miller, Editors). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. pp. 241–257. Close ) or "song" (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ). This call is given during the Butterfly Display (see Behavior: Spacing) and differs strikingly between species. The American Golden-Plover makes an abrupt tlink or tdlink [described as tud'ling (224 Murdoch, J. (1885). Birds. In Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, USA. pp. 104–128. Close ), toojick (225 Höhn, E. O. (1957). Observations on display and other forms of behavior of certain Arctic birds. Auk 74:203–214. Close ), ktoodlee (171 Drury, W. H., Jr. (1961). The breeding biology of shorebirds on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Auk 78:176–219. Close ), chu-leek or too-lick (46 Parmelee, D. F., H. A. Stephens, and R. H. Schmidt (1967). The birds of Southeastern Victoria Island and adjacent small islands. National Museum of Canada Bulletin 222. Close ), and tulik or ptulick (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close )] repeated at rates of 50–130/min (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close , 72 Miller, E. H. (1996a). Acoustic differentiation and speciation in shorebirds. In Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds (D. E. Kroodsma and E. H. Miller, Editors). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. pp. 241–257. Close ; Figure 3A). The Pacific Golden-Plover makes a plaintive pee-chew-ee [described as pee-er-wee (J. T. Nichols in 203 Bent, A. C. (1929). Life histories of North American shorebirds, Part 2. United States National Museum Bulletin 146. Close ), tee-tyu-eet (226 Kondratiev, A. Y. (1982). Biology of waders on the tundra of northeast Asia (in Russian). Nauka, Moscow, Russia. Close ), and ptee-oo-leeee (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ) at rates of 15–40/min (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close , 72 Miller, E. H. (1996a). Acoustic differentiation and speciation in shorebirds. In Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds (D. E. Kroodsma and E. H. Miller, Editors). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. pp. 241–257. Close ; Figure 3B).

Complex Whistle. This is also termed "long call" (227 Sauer, E. G. F. (1962). Ethology and ecology of golden plovers on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Psychologische Forschung 26:399–470. Close ), "song" (72 Miller, E. H. (1996a). Acoustic differentiation and speciation in shorebirds. In Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds (D. E. Kroodsma and E. H. Miller, Editors). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. pp. 241–257. Close ), or "trilling song" (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ). It is given by the male during descent and on the ground immediately after alighting from the Butterfly Display flight. It is usually repeated twice on the ground in rapid succession with simultaneous head-pumping. The female often echoes the call and also pumps her head. The male (and to a lesser extent the female) frequently gives the call from the ground or air during intraspecific or interspecific chases or territorial interactions, and in response to intruders passing overhead. Occasionally, it is given by the male during the Butterfly Display flight. The basic call in both species is wit-weeyou-wit , with a somewhat more warbling quality in the Pacific Golden-Plover (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close ; Figure 3C and Figure 3D). It is not uncommon to hear variations in which ≥ 1 syllables are repeated or slightly altered. Drury (171 Drury, W. H., Jr. (1961). The breeding biology of shorebirds on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Auk 78:176–219. Close ) described several versions of the American Golden-Plover Complex Whistle, including tsee-witwit-tsee, ka-sweeeooowit, and kloo tswit-tswit kloo; Byrkjedal and Thompson (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ) likened it to witt-wee-wyu-witt-witt. J. T. Nichols (in 203 Bent, A. C. (1929). Life histories of North American shorebirds, Part 2. United States National Museum Bulletin 146. Close ) rendered the Pacific Golden-Plover call as piterweeu, piterweeu, piterwit or peeperwip, peeperweeu, peeperwip, noting a similarity to calls of the Eastern Whip-poor-will (Antrostomus vociferus); Sauer (227 Sauer, E. G. F. (1962). Ethology and ecology of golden plovers on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Psychologische Forschung 26:399–470. Close ) rendered the call as quee quee que yah, queequeequeeah, de de dee yah, and kwe kwe kwee oih; Kondratiev (226 Kondratiev, A. Y. (1982). Biology of waders on the tundra of northeast Asia (in Russian). Nauka, Moscow, Russia. Close ) wrote it as teep-teeyu-veet-veet-teeyu-veet; and Byrkjedal and Thompson wrote it (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ) as t'wee-witt-wiy-wyu-witt-wju.

Alarm/Distraction Calls. This differs between the species, with many minor variants reported. The American Golden-Plover alarm call is rendered as kleeep (O. W. Johnson) or a more drawn-out klee-yeep shifting to killik-killik as the threat increases (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close ; Figure 3E), also kill-ee-oh kill-ee or pull-ee-oo plee-ee (55 Sutton, G. M., and D. F. Parmelee (1956). On certain charadriiform birds of Baffin Island. Wilson Bulletin 68:210–223. Close ), te-tee-duiee (225 Höhn, E. O. (1957). Observations on display and other forms of behavior of certain Arctic birds. Auk 74:203–214. Close ), kleeear and turdileee (171 Drury, W. H., Jr. (1961). The breeding biology of shorebirds on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Auk 78:176–219. Close ). The Pacific Golden-Ploveralarm call is peee (varies from shorter to more drawn-out versions; O. W. Johnson), shifting with increasing threat to deedleek (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close ; see Figure 3F), or pfeeb shifting to pfeebleeb or deedleek (227 Sauer, E. G. F. (1962). Ethology and ecology of golden plovers on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Psychologische Forschung 26:399–470. Close ). Shifting to a different call with increasing threat is not irreversible, as birds often switch back and forth. Highly agitated American Golden-Plovers also call klee-yeep instead of killik-killik during injury feigning (O. W. Johnson; see Behavior: Predation). Alarm/Distraction Calls are similar, but probably not identical in both sexes.

Aggression Calls. Those of an American Golden-Plover on the ground were reportedly the same as Alarm/Distraction vocalizations ( 171 Drury, W. H., Jr. (1961). The breeding biology of shorebirds on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Auk 78:176–219. Close ); those of a Pacific Golden-Plover were a chattering but melodic de rede rede rederedere (227 Sauer, E. G. F. (1962). Ethology and ecology of golden plovers on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Psychologische Forschung 26:399–470. Close ). During aggressive aerial pursuit chases of the American Golden-Plover, the pursuer calls tdlinkit-tdlinkit (37 Connors, P. G., B. J. McCaffery, and J. L. Maron (1993). Speciation in golden-plovers, Pluvialis dominica and P. fulva: evidence from the breeding grounds. Auk 110:9–20. Close ; Figure 3G) or toodleeka-toodleeka (171 Drury, W. H., Jr. (1961). The breeding biology of shorebirds on Bylot Island, Northwest Territories, Canada. Auk 78:176–219. Close ) and pumps its head vigorously. No comparable call was detected in the Pacific Golden-Plover.

Courtship Calls. Not yet described in the American Golden-Plover; captive Pacific Golden-Plover males courting on the ground gave soft trilled teeree teeree and bursts of pk pk pk (227 Sauer, E. G. F. (1962). Ethology and ecology of golden plovers on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea. Psychologische Forschung 26:399–470. Close ).

Intrapair Calls. Subtle, undetected calls are likely used by both species in intrapair communication.

Nonbreeding Season

Flight Calls. Vary in both species. Urner (228 Urner, C. A. (1933). The voice of the golden plover. Auk 50:420–425. Close ) lists extensive "vocabulary" of 20 calls for migrating American Golden-Plovers; most frequently heard were whistled que and que-del. More recent descriptions: for the American Golden-Plover: tyy-ee or tuu-ee, also tuu-u-ee and tu-uu-ee (229 Alström, P. (1990). Calls of American and Pacific Golden Plovers. British Birds 83:70–72. Close ), queedle (7 Paulson, D. R. (1993). Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, USA. Close ); for the Pacific Golden-Plover: chu-it, chu-eet, or chu-ee (uh) (229 Alström, P. (1990). Calls of American and Pacific Golden Plovers. British Birds 83:70–72. Close ), chuwi or chuweedle (7 Paulson, D. R. (1993). Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, USA. Close ). Flight Calls of the American Golden-Plover usually stress the first or second syllable, while Pacific Golden-Plover Flight Calls stress the second syllable.

Alarm Calls. Those of the Pacific Golden-Plover include drawn-out chu-EET or chu-EE(uh) with emphatic stress as shown (229 Alström, P. (1990). Calls of American and Pacific Golden Plovers. British Birds 83:70–72. Close ), sharp pseeep (OWJ), or wheet (7 Paulson, D. R. (1993). Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, USA. Close ). Additional observations (O. W. Johnson): Alström ( 229 Alström, P. (1990). Calls of American and Pacific Golden Plovers. British Birds 83:70–72. Close ) and Paulson (7 Paulson, D. R. (1993). Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, USA. Close ) renditions are consistent with Pacific Golden-Plover alarm vocalizations on Hawaii overwintering grounds; the frequently heard chu-EET and chu-EE(uh) calls of disturbed overwintering birds have not been detected on breeding grounds, possibly Alarm Calls of breeding birds (both species) restricted to those already described (see type 3 vocalizations).

Aggression Calls. Not studied in the American Golden-Plover. Aggressive interactions and accompanying calls are very common among overwintering Pacific Golden-Plovers in Hawaii, especially territorial individuals and birds at nocturnal roosts (see Behavior: Spacing and Agonistic Behavior). Calls were melodious and varied: pseer, sweerit, psweer, psweer-wit, pswer-pswer-pswerrr-wit-wit (230 Johnson, O. W., and R. M. Nakamura (1981). The use of roofs by American Golden-Plovers Pluvialis dominica fulva wintering on Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Wader Study Group Bulletin 31:45–46. Close , O. W. Johnson). Of these, the longer versions are either the same or very similar to the Complex Whistle of breeding birds. Presumably, these calls are very similar in theAmerican Golden-Plover.

The acoustic features of Pluvialis calls indicate that the Repetitive Call is "ancestral to the genus" and demonstrate obvious homologies between certain elements of the Repetitive Calls and Complex Whistles of the American Golden-Plover and Pacific Golden-Plover (72 Miller, E. H. (1996a). Acoustic differentiation and speciation in shorebirds. In Ecology and Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Birds (D. E. Kroodsma and E. H. Miller, Editors). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA. pp. 241–257. Close ). Additional information on breeding and non-breeding vocalizations (mostly minor variations) can be found in other sources, the most useful probably being Pym (23 Pym, A. (1982). Identification of Lesser Golden-Plover and status in Britain and Ireland. British Birds 75:112–124. Close ) and Cramp and Simmons ( 24 Cramp, S., and K. E. L. Simmons (1983). The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Volume 3: Waders to Gulls. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ).

Geographic Variation

Mostly unknown. The foregoing descriptions of calls are from relatively few sites on the breeding and overwintering grounds.

Phenology

The American Golden-Plover is probably most vocal during the breeding season, but migrants and overwintering birds also vocalize frequently.

Daily Pattern of Vocalizing

The Repetitive Call during the Butterfly Display is heard throughout the day and night during the pre-incubation phase of the breeding cycle. According to Byrkjedal and Thompson (31 Byrkjedal, I., and D. B. A. Thompson (1998). Tundra Plovers: The Eurasian, Pacific and American Golden Plovers and Grey Plover. T & AD Poyser Ltd, London, United Kingdom. Close ), repetitive calling is most frequent among unpaired Pacific Golden-Plover males, which is consistent with the advertisement function of this call/display (see Behavior: Sexual Behavior). As incubation gets underway, repetitive call/display is mostly restricted to a male's off-duty hours primarily at night (see Breeding: Incubation). Other vocalizations vary with daily circumstances; there is no clear pattern.

Places of Vocalizing

Repetitive Call and Flight Calls are heard only during flight; Complex Whistle and Aggression Calls (breeding and non-breeding seasons) are given mostly from the ground, occasionally while in flight. Courtship and Intrapair Calls are given primarily on the ground, possibly during flight. Alarm/Distraction calls are given from the ground only. Alarm Calls (non-breeding season) are from the ground and in flight. Ground calls are given in an extensive area around the nest, while initial alarm calls of an incubating bird are sometimes given from the nest itself. No perches are required for vocalizations, although the agitated bird often runs about in the vicinity of the nest, stopping and calling from rocks and other prominences. Presumably, any elevation, however slight, facilitates responses when threatened by an intruder. Aerial calls, especially the Repetitive Call, is given over wide areas, often beyond apparent boundaries of territory (see Behavior: Spacing). Calls of overwintering birds are not limited to specific sites.

None reported.