 Breeding evidence |
||
Click for a larger version or to add map overlays |
||
Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
|
Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
|
|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atlas Results
Observations of Semipalmated Plovers scattered across the southern half of the province were presumed to be migrants, being largely absent during the month of June. However, two birds encountered on the southern shore of Lake Athabasca represent possible breeders. One bird was heard and seen on the west side of William's Point, and another was observed behaving somewhat suspiciously (i.e., not flushing, calling, and being alert to the observer) in the barren dunes east of the MacFarlane River, though no nest was found.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Semipalmated Plovers are sometimes confused with Piping Plovers, which are similar in size and also have a single, sometimes only partial, breast band. Unlike its larger plover cousins, the Semipalmated does not form close-knit flocks when congregating; instead, birds keep well spaced from each other (Wapple and Renaud 2008). The species breeds in the Arctic of Alaska and Canada, as well as Atlantic Canada, and winters coastally from Virginia and California south to Patagonia and Chile (Nol and Blanken 1999).
In migration the Semipalmated Plover is found on mudflats, the sandy beaches of lakes and sloughs, and sandbars in watercourses (Wapple and Renaud 2008). Breeding habitat in northern Saskatchewan includes sand dunes near Little Gull and Yakow Lakes, and the sandy beaches of Lake Athabasca (Smith 1996).
The Semipalmated Plover is a fairly common spring and fall transient throughout the province. Although most move on to the main breeding grounds in the Arctic, a few nonbreeders linger well into summer in the south while others nest as far south as Lake Athabasca (Smith 1996).
Original text by Robert Warnock. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Semipalmated Plover in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Semipalmated Plover in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=SEPL&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
| Previous species: Killdeer | Table of Contents | Next species: Piping Plover |