‘Population of Pacific golden-plovers declining’

The migratory Pacific golden-plovers seen here on the grass near Hollywood Theaters in San Jose, Saipan, are expected to leave for Siberia by next month. These birds will return to the CNMI in September. The Division of Fish and Wildlife’s bird count data confirms that the population of these birds is declining. (Ferdie Dela Torre)

Have you ever noticed this group of spotted gold long-legged birds on the grass near Hollywood Theaters and Joeten Superstore in San Jose, Saipan? Enjoy them while you can because these birds, called the Pacific golden-plovers, will be leaving for Siberia soon.

In the CNMI and Guam, Chamorros call these birds dulili, while Carolinians call them ghuling.

In response to Saipan Tribune’s inquiry about these birds, Division of Fish & Wildlife conservation planner Jill Liske-Clark said yesterday that most Pacific golden-plovers will depart in April for Siberia, where they will nest.

“Siberia may be a good place to raise chicks in the summer but it just isn’t a hospitable place for a shorebird to live in the wintertime, so they come south,” Liske-Clark said.

These birds, she said, will return to Saipan, Tinian, and Rota in September.

She said other Pacific golden-plovers nest in Alaska, but researchers who tagged some of these birds in the CNMI many years back found that the birds that do come here go to Siberia, probably via Japan.

She said these birds are wintering across the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Liske-Clark said Pacific golden-plovers are a “shorebird” so people can see them also on the shoreline, especially on mud flats at low tide.

“But here on Saipan, we see more on mowed lawns like at former Costco. I also see a lot on the high school’s playing fields,” she said.

The conservation planner said the most of these birds can be found at the Francisco C. Ada International Airport.

She said that during this year’s DFW’s annual Christmas Bird Count, they counted a couple of hundred at the airport.

Liske-Clark said Pacific golden-plovers are not endangered, but their population is thought to be declining globally.

She disclosed that DFW’s annual Christmas Bird Count Data, which they started collecting in 1990, appears to confirm the declining population.

“I don’t know the reason for the decline, but since it is being seen globally, I suspect that it is an issue on the breeding grounds, rather than wintering grounds like Saipan,” Liske-Clark said.

Pacific golden-plovers sleep on the ground. They hunt insects and other invertebrates by sight.

As to why it looks like they barely move at all, Liske-Clark explained that these birds are stealthy hunters.

“When they see a prey, they’ll run up quick and grab it,” she said.