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Piping Plover Background and Recovery
The piping plover lives along the shorelines of lakes, rivers, wetlands and beaches of North America. Unfortunately, piping plovers are continually threatened by human activities along beaches, including commercial, residential and recreational development, and off-road vehicle (ORV) beach driving. Defenders has been working to help piping plover populations recover from their threatened and endangered status by encouraging proper beach management in their critical habitat.
There are three breeding populations of piping plovers recognized in North America:
- Northern Great Plains (wetlands, beaches, lakes and river systems throughout Canada and into regions around Kansas)
- Great Lakes (beaches along Lake Superior and Lake Michigan)
- Atlantic Coast (beaches spanning from Canadian Maritime Provinces to North Carolina)
Description
Piping plovers tend to blend into their sandy habitats with their light-brown coloring. They have white bellies and black bands that stretch across their foreheads and breasts. During their breeding season, their legs and black-tipped bills turn orange. They weigh in at 1.5-2 ounces and are usually 7 inches long with a wingspan of 15 inches.
Diet and Behavior
Like other plovers, the piping plover tends to dart along the coastline in short quick movements, pecking at the sand for insects and larvae that wash ashore. Their usual fare consists of worms, crustaceans, insects, and the occasional bivalve mollusks found along beaches and intertidal mud and sand flats.
Their name derives from their peeping, whistling-like song. Often one will hear their warbling before even sighting the easily camouflaged bird.
Range and Breeding
Unlike other shorebirds, piping plovers do not migrate great distances during the winter. They spend their winters on the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts from North Carolina to Mexico, sometimes dipping into the region of the Bahamas and West Indies. In late March and early April they arrive at their breeding grounds and create their nests along the dunes on elevated, sparser areas of the shore.
Females lay approximately 4 eggs and their young hatch 27-31 days after egg-laying. The chicks are beige and spotted with black beaks, orange legs and a white collar around their neck. They are able to leave the nest after 4 weeks, and by early September they depart for their winter home with the rest of the flock.
Threats
- Development: Loss of habitat due to coastal development and recreation. Local shore development also leads to stray food that increases the number of predators, like foxes, raccoons, and skunks.
- Disturbance and Destruction: vehicles, pedestrians and pets are often responsible for exposing nesting chicks and crushing nests.
- Flooding: Poor water management of river systems and stormtides can flood plover nests.
All piping plovers are currently considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act, except for the Great Lakes population which is listed as endangered. The total population is estimated to be at 6,410 individuals.
Plover History
Piping plover populations first began to plummet in the 19th century when they were hunted for millinery purposes. They began to recover after the passage of the Migratory Bird Treat Act of 1918, and reached their peak numbers in 1940. These populations were short lived however, once development and recreational usage of beaches surged post World War II. Human caused destruction of their habitat remains their largest threat today.
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