{"id":6599,"date":"2012-11-18T05:38:03","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T12:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2026-04-28T07:00:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:00:57","slug":"the-ant-slaying-snowy-plover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/11\/18\/the-ant-slaying-snowy-plover\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ant Slaying Snowy Plover"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SnowySnowy Plover with ant – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, prey provided by the bird<\/span><\/p>\n

While photographing this Snowy Plover in June of 2008 I was able to observe the tiny shorebird snatch an ant from the sugar sand of the north beach of Fort De Soto.<\/p>\n

I watched as the plover stuffed the ant into the sand then waited a few seconds and then the bird \u00a0removed the ant from the sand and repeated the behavior several times before scarfing the ant down.<\/p>\n

To this day I am still not sure why the Snowy Plover<\/span><\/a> did what it did but I do know that while watching it through my lens I was fascinated.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Snowy Plover photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While photographing this Snowy Plover in June of 2008 I was able to observe the tiny shorebird snatch an ant from the sugar sand of the north beach of Fort De Soto. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,704,266],"tags":[4191,4515,4039,4226,14752,1130,173,5841,275,4106,4017,274,3978,2315],"class_list":["post-6599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-snowy-plovers","tag-anarhynchus-nivosus","tag-ant","tag-beach","tag-behavior","tag-coastal-island","tag-food","tag-gulf-coast","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-prey","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-snowy-plover","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-plover-ant-mia-mcpherson-5192.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1Ir","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14357,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/16\/snowy-plover-on-a-sugar-sand-beach\/","url_meta":{"origin":6599,"position":0},"title":"Snowy Plover On A Sugar Sand Beach","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Shorebirds like this tiny Snowy Plover on a sugar sand beach were my \"spark\" birds when it comes to my bird photography and they are what made my passion for bird photography catch fire.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Plover on a sugar sand beach, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-plover-sand-mia-mcpherson-5202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-plover-sand-mia-mcpherson-5202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"These images of birds on the beach were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach six years ago today on a beautiful morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret in dawn\u2019s light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-2280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-2280.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/snowy-egret-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-2280.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"October 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Throughout the year you can see and photograph many different species of Plovers on Fort De Soto\u2019s beaches, tidal lagoons and spartina marshes.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-bellied Plovers"","block_context":{"text":"Black-bellied Plovers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/black-bellied-plovers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Semipalmated Plover in early morning light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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