Kolea Golden Plover Reproduction

The Kolea's breeding season is from April through July, in the Arctic tundra of Alaska and North America. Each season they choose one partner to mate with. The males usually choose to return to the same general area as they did the previous year. The female rarely returns to the same breeding grounds. During the courtship, the male builds many nests. The male gathers moss, lichen, grass, shrubs., and sedges to cover a protected area of rocks.

The female usually lays 3-4 eggs which are creamy gray with large black and gray spots. Both parents tend the nest and eggs for 22-24 days. While the male incubates, or sits on the eggs, the female searches for food. They switch places during the process.

Once the eggs hatch, the downy chicks are precocial, which means that they quickly develop and are able to find their own food.

The Kolea can fly at a young age. Though the chicks are able to feed themselves, their parents do everything possible to keep predators from their nests, eggs, and young. In their Alaska breeding grounds, their predators are the arctic foxes, parasitic jagers, and other raptors.