Stats

Lifespan

5-11 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Diurnal

Social

Solitary

Biome

Coastal beach

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Vulnerable

About

This small shorebird lives on sandy beaches across North America. It performs a broken-wing display to lure predators away from its hidden ground nest.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Charadriidae

Genus

Charadrius

Species

Charadrius melodus