Closure: The Definitive Guide

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The animal on the cover of Closure: The Definitive Guide is a European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria). These birds are named for the beautiful gold spots on their backs and wings. Their plumage varies greatly between seasons, however. In the summer, their mating season, golden plovers have black feathers on their faces, necks, and bellies, separated by a white line (as seen on the cover of this book). They molt before the winter, and the darker color gives way to yellow or white.

Members of the plover family are identifiable by their small heads, short beaks, and plump bodies. They also have a distinctive manner of feeding, a run-pause-and-peck technique. Foraging by sight, golden plovers largely eat insects, but they also feed on plant matter, berries, and crustaceans. They prefer tundra and moor habitats, and have a large range, living in northern Europe and western Asia during the summer and migrating to southern Europe and northern Africa in the winter. The golden plovers of the Americas (a different species) migrate up to 2,000 miles annually.

Generally, all plovers are known for “distraction displays.” For instance, they will spend time sitting on an imaginary nest to protect the actual site or feign a broken wing when a predator is near. A group of plovers can be referred to in many ways: a brace, congregation, deceit, ponderance, or wing.

The cover image is from Johnson’s Natural History. The cover font is Adobe ITC Garamond. The text font is Linotype Birka; the ...