Geographic variation in morphometrics, molt, and migration suggests ongoing subspeciation in Pacific golden-plovers ( Pluvialis fulva )

Breeding Pacific Golden-Plovers ( Pluvialis fulva ) cover 140 longitudinal degrees of Arctic tundra. Having examined 557 museum skins from across this huge distributional range, we conclude that Pacific Golden-Plovers breeding in Alaska are structurally larger than those breeding in Siberia, especia...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Auk
Main Authors: Jukema, Joop, van Rhijn , Johan, Piersma, Theunis
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2016
Subjects:
geographic variation
migration
molt
Pacific Golden-Plover
Pluvialis fulva
subspeciation
wing length
wing pointedness
Arctic
Pacific
Tundra
Alaska
Siberia
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/11370/cb271ba0-7f56-449c-b0c0-a8c47988071b
https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/cb271ba0-7f56-449c-b0c0-a8c47988071b
https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-14-303.1
https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/67050785/auk_14_303.1.pdf
Description
Summary:Breeding Pacific Golden-Plovers ( Pluvialis fulva ) cover 140 longitudinal degrees of Arctic tundra. Having examined 557 museum skins from across this huge distributional range, we conclude that Pacific Golden-Plovers breeding in Alaska are structurally larger than those breeding in Siberia, especially in wing length. Birds from Alaska also have more pointed wings and almost always postpone the initiation of primary molt until they reach their winter quarters, whereas many Siberian birds start primary molt in the breeding areas. These differences could have been favored by the longer transoceanic flights followed by the Alaskan populations to nonbreeding destinations in the Pacific Islands. We propose that the Alaskan and Siberian breeding birds be distinguished as distinct flyway populations to be used in conservation assessments by the international conservation community.

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