The European golden plover tends to breed in the
Arctic tundra and other
moorland areas, ranging as far west as
Iceland, where they are called Heiðlóa, and as far east as
central Siberia; the southernmost breed in
Wales and
Belarus, after a small breeding population on
Dartmoor in southwest England became extinct in about 2010. In winter, it migrates southwest to milder regions of Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia, from
Ireland east to
Denmark, and south to the
Mediterranean region as far as
Algeria, northern Egypt, and the
Caspian Sea coast of
Iran. It tends to gather in large flocks in open areas such as agricultural plains, ploughed land, and short meadows, ranging from lowland plains to subarctic plateaus, typically in flat terrain with moderate vegetation near wetlands. Vagrants have been recorded west to the east coast of
Canada (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia), south to
Gambia, and east to
Pakistan and northern
India. ==Behaviour and ecology==