A gorgeous little bird, with shimmering golden feathers across its back and a white underside. Weighing in at under 280 grams or the same as enough tea bags to make 90 cups of brown joy. At 29cm long, it’s a small bird, that skitters and skips across the sand and stones, seeking some larval Tipulidae flies. Yum. It needs a lot of these and spends 90% of the daytime looking for them along the coast. 

The golden plover does not necessarily have a golden voice though, it’s song has been described as a few short high notes repeated as “tuuu” or “tee-ooo”. If you hear a particularly high pitched short screech, that is its alarm call and it has been disturbed. Disturbing this black eyed beauty means that they are unable to gain sufficient calories to migrate back to Iceland, Faroe Islands, or Scandinavia, between 790 & 1375 miles, and woo a partner. As we say the Icelandic word for farewell “bless” the Icelanders welcome in spring with the golden plovers arrival with a hearty “Halló”.

38,000 to 59,000 pairs breed in the UK with an additional 400,000 golden plovers joining them in the summer. The global population is increasing and is currently between 1,300,000 and 1,750,000. 

Golden plovers are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.