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BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
Huxley, J. S., Auk, XXXIII, 263-264, 1916.— Rockwell, R. B., Condor, XIV, 
128-131, 1912.— Thayer, G. H., Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, 
Figs. 70-72, 1909. 
AMERICAN BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER: Squatarola squatarola (Linnaeus) 
Description. — Length: 10.5-12 inches, wing 7.5, bill 1.1, tarsus 1.9. Bill 
short, stout, deep at base, head and eye large; front toes webbed at base, kind toe 
present but minute. Adults in breeding plumage (sexes alike or similar): Lower 
half of face and underparts back 
to thighs black, ivith a faint cop¬ 
pery gloss , bordered on head and 
sides of neck with white; lower 
belly and under tail coverts white ; 
top of head and back grayish, 
mottled black and white; upper 
tail coverts and base of tail chief¬ 
ly white, end of tail barred; wing 
quills dusky, edged and marked 
with white; spread wing showing 
short white band, black axillars 
(in all plumages), wing linings 
white and dusky; iris brown to 
blackish; bill black; legs and feet 
bluish gray to black. 1 Adults in 
winter plumage: Black replaced by 
white marked with dusky except 
on lower underparts, chest tinged with brownish gray; upperparts without black 
spotting; rump, tail coverts, tail, and axillars as in summer. Young in juvenal 
plumage: Like winter adults, but upperparts dark brown spotted with white and 
buffy, upper tail coverts tipped with it and tail with slight buffy tinge; breast and 
sides dingy or buffy white. Feet lead color. 
Remarks.— The winter adults may be known by their big heads, short plover 
bdl, short white band on wing, black axillars, whitish tail coverts, and partly 
barred white tail. 
Range. Circumpolar. Breeds on Arctic coast; in America, winters from 
California, Louisiana, and North Carolina to Brazil and Peru. 
State Records.— During migration the Black-bellied Plover is known through¬ 
out nearly the whole of the United States, hence it is probably more common in 
New Mexico than the two records for the State would indicate. Two were seen 
m late March, 18S6, near Apache (Anthony), and one taken October 26, 1898 
at Thirteen Mile Lake, Chavez County (Barber).— W. \V. Cooke. 
Food.— Cutworm larvae, earthworms, marine worms, grasshoppers, locusts, 
beetles, and other insects, grubs, spiders, minute shellfish, water snails, crabs; and 
also berries. 
General Habits. The Black-bellied Plover in its black and white 
summer plumage is a striking example of what Abbott Thayer calls 
‘ruptive markings, bold massed patterns of contrasting shades and 
colors,” which destroy the bird’s contour in an open landscape (1909, 
p. 79), 1 hat it nests in the open, in one instance in black moss, is 
1 A male taken September 1(> was still in almost complete nuptial plumage. 
From Biological Survey 
Fig. 42. Black-bellied Plover 
At a distance, the black of the color pattern 
(secant coloration) is protective, cutting in two 
the rounded form of the bird 
