Grey plover
Pluvialis squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758)
The grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola), also called the Black-bellied plover or Gray plover, is a bird in the family Charadriidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small, migratory, terrestrial carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category, with an adult body mass of 250 g and a wingspan of 77 cm.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the grey plover
Its habitat is grassland, and checklists record it in Australia. The grey plover is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 202 g – 250 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 77 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 20.3 years – 25.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2 years – 2.24 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the grey plover?
Photos of the grey plover
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_Great_Bay_Wildlife_Management_Area,_New_Jersey,_USA.png){kind=link}
Where does the grey plover live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The grey plover is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the grey plover?
The grey plover or black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola) is a large plover breeding in Arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding.
From the Wikipedia article “Grey plover” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grey_plover&oldid=1381652153), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the grey plover endangered?
The grey plover is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.
How is the grey plover classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyCharadriidae
- genusPluvialis
- SpeciesPluvialis squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Charadarius squatarola, Charadrius helveticus, Charadrius hypomelanus, Charadrius hypomelus, Charadrius megalorhynchus, Charadrius naevius, Charadrius pardela, Charadrius squatarola, Pluvialis squatarola squaratola, Squatarola cinerea, Squatarola grisea, Squatarola helvetica, Squatarola helvetica australis, Squatarola helvetica wilsoni, Squatarola megarhynchos, Squatarola rhynchomega, Squatarola sqatarola australis, Squatarola squatarola, Squatarola subtridactyla, Squatarola subtridactyla, Tringa helvetica, Tringa varia, Vanellus melanogaster
Other names and names in other languages (121)
- Black bellied ploverEnglish
- Black-bellied ploverEnglish
- Gray ploverEnglish
- GRPLEnglish
- Silver ploverEnglish
- Soldier birdEnglish
- GrysstrandkiewietAfrikaans
- زقزاق ارمدArabic
- الزقزاق الرماديArabic
- زقزاق الرماديArabic
- قطقاط رماديArabic
- رسول الغيث الرماديArabic
- Pollu CardexuAsturian
- pollu los pedrerosAsturian
- TulesAzerbaijani
- СявецBelarusian
- Сребриста булкаBulgarian
- Сребристопер дъждосвирецBulgarian
- Morlivid-aodBreton
- pigre grisCatalan
- Ҫутӑ пуҫлӑ шӑхранChuvash
- kulík bledýCzech
- cwtiad llwydWelsh
- Cwtiaid LlwydWelsh
- strandhjejleDanish
- KiebitzregenpfeiferGerman
- AlakaDivehi
- UcilònEmilian
- ΑργυροπούλιGreek
- ΣτακτοπλουμίδιGreek
- arĝenta pluvioEsperanto
- Chorlo grisSpanish
- Chorlito cabezónSpanish
- Chorlito grisSpanish
- Chorlo árticoSpanish
- Playero GrisSpanish
- tuyikCentral Yupik
- tuliiq-tuliiqCentral Yupik
- tuuliigaqCentral Yupik
- plüüEstonian
- Txirri grisBasque
- سلیم خاکستریPersian
- tundrakurmitsaFinnish
- FjørulógvFaroese
- Pluvier argentéFrench
- SlykwilsterWestern Frisian
- Feadóg bolgdubhIrish
- Pluvier grisgcf
- TrìlleachanScottish Gaelic
- feadag ghlasScottish Gaelic
- feadagan glasaScottish Gaelic
- feadóg ghlasScottish Gaelic
- Píllara cincentaGalician
- Píllara cinsentaGalician
- Feddag ghlassManx
- MbatuirusuGuarani
- Plivye vant nwaHaitian Creole
- חופזי מנומרHebrew
- חופמי מנומרHebrew
- חופז-י חופמי מנומרHebrew
- zlatar pijukavacCroatian
- ezüstlileHungarian
- Մոխրագույն ՔարադրArmenian
- Cerek besarIndonesian
- AnngilikInuktitut
- GrálóaIcelandic
- pivieressaItalian
- ダイゼンJapanese
- კვათარიGeorgian
- anngilik sissarmiuKalaallisut
- МаусымқұсKazakh
- 개꿩Korean
- Cornwhylen losCornish
- SëlwerwakeleeferLuxembourgish
- jūrinis sėjikasLithuanian
- jūras ķīvīteLatvian
- VikivikivolombatolalakaMalagasy
- сиво блатарчеMacedonian
- Сребрен дождосвирецMacedonian
- ചാരമണൽക്കോഴിMalayalam
- ചാര മണല്ക്കോഴിMalayalam
- Pluviera PastardaMaltese
- Буурал сүвээцагаанMongolian
- राखी चिखल्याMarathi
- Burung Rampang KelabuMalay
- tundraloNorwegian Bokmål
- zilverplevierDutch
- Lopi GrisPapiamento
- Lopi ShinishiPapiamento
- HouvièrePicard
- siewnicaPolish
- گرے پلوورWestern Panjabi
- tarambola-cinzentaPortuguese
- batuiruçu-de-axila-pretaPortuguese
- Gravarel d'argientRomansh
- Ploier argintiuRomanian
- ploierul argintiuRomanian
- тулесRussian
- Морская сивкаRussian
- DuottarbižusNorthern Sami
- gáddebižusNorthern Sami
- črna prosenkaSlovenian
- Gjelëza pikalosheAlbanian
- Srebrni vivakSerbian
- Сребрни вивакSerbian
- Zlatar pijukavac / Златар пијукавацSerbian
- kustpipareSwedish
- Kitwitwi KijivuSwahili
- Sambal UppukkothiTamil
- นกหัวโตสีเทาThai
- Matang-bakaFilipino
- gumus yagmurcunTurkish
- gümüş yağmurcunTurkish
- Тайлан сайжиTuvinian
- Морська сивкаUkrainian
- Сивка морськаUkrainian
- Choi choi xámVietnamese
- קיביץ־רעגנפֿײַפֿערYiddish
- 灰鸻Chinese
- 灰斑鴴Chinese
- 灰斑鸻Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the grey plover
Other species in the same genus Pluvialis.
European golden plover
Pluvialis apricaria
Pacific golden plover
Pluvialis fulva
Lesser golden plover
Pluvialis dominica
CompareGrey plover vs European golden ploverGrey plover vs Pacific golden ploverGrey plover vs Lesser golden plover
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the grey plover?
The grey plover is a bird in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes.
How heavy is the grey plover?
The grey plover has an adult body mass of 250 g, which places it in the small size class, and a wingspan of 77 cm.
What does the grey plover eat?
The grey plover is a carnivore in the aquatic predator diet category.
Is the grey plover endangered?
The grey plover is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the grey plover live?
The grey plover has a lifespan of 20.3 years, with values up to 25.6 years reported.
Which countries is the grey plover recorded in?
Checklists record the grey plover in Australia.
How many young does the grey plover have?
The grey plover has a clutch size of 4, with 1 clutch per year and an incubation period of 26.75 days.
Who named the grey plover?
The scientific name Pluvialis squatarola carries the authority (Linnaeus, 1758).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-plover
“Grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-plover.
@misc{grey_plover_2026,
title = {Grey plover (Pluvialis squatarola)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/grey-plover},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}