Pacific Golden-Plover

How to find it

At Puntarenas, look on the beach and along the jetties. The stretch runs from the lighthouse to parts of the beach east of the jetties. One bird there was found by a local guide and stayed with two American Golden-Plovers, so scan every golden-plover in a group. A bird found in March 2023 was still present on 26 March, after the two American Golden-Plovers with it had apparently flown north. One observer who checked photos suspected the species is overlooked, and found possible Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Belize records from November to April. Salt ponds on the Pacific side are also worth checking, because the first Costa Rican record came from one.

How to recognise it

Breeding adults are spotted gold and black above. The face, neck and breast are black, with a white band running from the forehead down the sides.

Non-breeding birds are duller, with yellowish-brown and gray tones and paler underparts.

At Puntarenas, one bird looked more yellowish overall than an American Golden-Plover. It also showed a large bill and long blue-gray legs.

Compared with its American relative, the Pacific is a little smaller and, in breeding plumage, has brighter gold markings on the back.

What it sounds like

Recording: rudyard, CC0 1.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

The Pacific Golden-Plover feeds by running, stopping to look, then quickly picking prey from the ground. It eats mostly insects, and also crustaceans and some berries.

It forms flocks during migration and on its wintering grounds. Wintering birds often hold small feeding territories and return to the same spot each year.

At Puntarenas, one bird stayed with two American Golden-Plovers, so a single bird may well be tucked into a group of its lookalikes.

Where it lives

Across its wintering range the species uses open ground, including farm fields, beaches, coastal marshes, mudflats and golf courses. Those are habits of the species in general.

In Costa Rica the records point to the Pacific side. The first Costa Rican bird was a single bird in winter plumage on salt ponds, resting with other waders, and recent birds have been on the beach and jetties at Puntarenas.

When to see it

In recent years this very rare bird has shown up at Puntarenas in late winter and spring. In 2024 it arrived early, and birders saw it on the beach there in late November.

Similar birds

The American Golden-Plover is the bird to rule out, and the two were treated as one species until 1993. The Pacific has longer tertial feathers, so with the wing folded only about three primary tips show past them. It is also a little smaller, with brighter gold on the back in breeding plumage.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The Spanish name on the Costa Rican list is Chorlito Dorado del Pacífico. Other Spanish names for the species include Chorlito Dorado Siberiano and Chorlo Dorado del Pacífico.

Status and conservation

The Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica lists it as status A, and the IUCN rates the species Least Concern worldwide.

Photography tips

Unlike the American Golden-Plover, the Pacific has become used to people in busy places such as Oahu, where it feeds within a few feet of passers-by. That is range-wide behaviour, not something recorded in Costa Rica. At Puntarenas, check each golden-plover in a group and look for the more yellowish tone, large bill and long blue-gray legs.