The Pacific golden plover was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae.

[2] Gmelin based his description on the "Fulvous plover" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham from specimens from Tahiti.

[3] The Pacific golden plover is now placed in the genus Pluvialis that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.

The black on the face and breast bordered by white is replaced with dark brown, gray, and yellowish patterning and lighter underparts.

Although a shorebird, the Pacific golden plover feeds mostly inland, preferring open spaces with short vegetation.

[7] During the breeding season, the Arctic tundra provides insects and berries for food, and effective camouflage for predator avoidance.

Such research showed that the birds made the 3,000 miles (4,800 km) nonstop flight between Alaska and Hawai'i in 3–4 days.

The male builds a nest of lichen, moss, and grasses, in shallow scrapes on the ground in a dry open area.

Flocks of juveniles remain, making the migration sometimes as late as October and November depending on Arctic weather.

It forages on tundra, in mowed grass, and on beaches and tidal flats, eating nearly anything that crawls including insects, spiders, mollusks, crustaceans, and small reptiles, as well as berries, leaves, and seeds.

[1][12] However, the population trend is decreasing, the main threat being a global shift in habitat and alteration due to climate change and severe weather.