Radio-tagged Pacific Golden-Plovers: The Hawaii-Alaska link, spring destinations, and breeding season survival

To learn more about mid-Pacific migration, we radio-tagged 40 Pacific Golde n-Plovers (Pluvialis fulva) in spring 1999 on their wintering territories i n Hawaii. The birds departed in late April. and with aerial monitoring we r elocated 10 of them in Alaska. Seven individuals were in or near the Nushag ak River lowlands in southwestern Alaska. Nesting Pacific Golden-Plovers we re discovered there in 1994 disjunct from the previously known breeding ran ge. The remaining three radio-tagged birds were found north of Bethel on th e Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Our results Suggest that breeding is continuous fr om the Nushagak region west through the uplands north of Bristol Bay to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Thus, plovers wintering in Hawaii apparently nest a cross a wide area of Alaska. We present a revised Alaska breeding distribut ion map for the species which differs significantly from AOU Check-list bou ndaries. The temporary attachment of transmitters (they, are shed during su mmer molting) had no apparent effect or) survival within our sample populat ion. Birds that had carried transmitters returned to their winter territori es in Hawaii at a rate nearly identical to banded plovers not radio-tagged.