Piping plover pairs hit records from Maine to Great Lakes
We interview Bob Dolgan, documentarian of Chicago's famous plover pair Monty and Rose, about what's making this little beach bird's rebound possible.
On beaches across America, a tiny bird is declaring its will to survive. The number of paired piping plovers hit records this summer from Michigan to Maine, marking a new milestone for a species that was listed as endangered in the Great Lakes watersheds in 1985.
Nesting pairs of the Great Lakes piping plovers hit a record 88 this summer, the third consecutive year of record-breaking numbers, up from a low of 12 in the 1980s. In Maine, a record 174 pairs nested on the state’s beaches, compared to 10 in 1981. (On the American West Coast, we can also celebrate increasing numbers of a related species, the snowy plover.)
Piping plovers are a small, ground-nesting bird, with adults having a wingspan of about 15 inches and weighing about two ounces. Plover is pronounced “pluh-ver” and rhymes with “lover” not “clover.” They nest on sand or gravel and are particularly vulnerable to being crushed underfoot by beachgoers or their dogs. Hundreds of conservationists are involved in their recovery.
To find out more about how these birds are rebounding, I spoke via email with Bob Dolgan, a lifelong birder whose documentaries about piping plovers Monty and Rose have been screened across the United States and on PBS. He is the former chief editor of Meadowlark, a journal of Illinois birds, and writes This Week in Birding on Substack.
What was your reaction when you heard piping plovers had shown up on a beach in downtown Chicago?
A few piping plovers passed through each year prior to 2019, but that a pair was present and showing mating behavior was truly shocking. At that point, we knew it was something special, but didn’t really even know how long it had been since piping plovers bred in Chicago (it turned out it had been 71 years). Initially, we were just thinking about protecting birds that seemed intent on nesting on a very busy urban beach. Also, it was just really cool to think that an endangered species could nest in what then was my neighborhood. It made our little slice of the lakefront feel like a more special place.
What's been the key to the success of piping plover conservation? Or, what made plover recovery possible?
Nearly all the credit goes to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team, a multi-partner, public-private effort that launched in 1986. You can see how the population began to ramp up from its low point of 13 pairs in 1990. Piping plovers are nearly a human-assisted species at this point and require monitoring, nest exclosures (wire protective cages), and habitat maintenance. The population really began to increase when captive breeding and nest recovery were introduced. That meant an adult might be lost to a predator like a merlin, a type of small falcon, but that its chicks or eggs might still have a chance at making it.
What's next for piping plover conservation?
I suspect that it is more of the same. But it would be helpful to have more beaches available, especially those that are not groomed, a practice that impacts ground-nesting birds. It also helps to have observers on the breeding grounds and the wintering grounds (places like Texas and Florida). We know so much about piping plovers because nearly every bird is banded with a unique leg band combination. Having eyes on the birds can help us learn more about population trends.
I know some chicks didn't survive. Do they need habitat that sustains more insects?
Chicks don’t make it for a variety of reasons. The median number of fledglings that make it from a nest is fewer than two. There does need to be more habitat in general, more protected land that is free of human stresses, dogs, and development.
Is it true their original decline was because we hunted them for plumage for hats?
Yes, plume hunting was an issue, but I’d also add market hunting (for food) and beach development. There are very few untrammeled beaches remaining around the Great Lakes. There probably never were any more than 800 piping plovers on the Great Lakes—their population pales against the East Coast. You also have a lot of competition with other species like killdeer that prevents the birds from expanding their numbers.
Why do you think these birds are so loved? I know there's been a few years of plover mania in Chicago.
I think it’s because they are such an interesting species, and we know so much about their habits. Chicks are precocial, meaning they leave the nest right after hatching, so there is something really charming and vulnerable about that. The parents have also proven to be fiercely protective of their young and each other. You can follow their story up close, and that’s resonated with most anyone into nature or birds. Also, birding has grown in popularity in recent years and maybe in Chicago in particular. So you have people really celebrating the plovers as our sort of local mascots.
“...if I were required to name a sound, the remembrance of which most perfectly revives the impression which the beach has made, it would be the dreary peep of the piping plover which haunts there."
— Henry David Thoreau
A few hopeful headlines about birds
USA
Earth Hope: Tahoe's sandhill cranes show wetland restoration is working
UK
Bird Guides: Corncrake reintroduction project launches in Yorkshire
BRAZIL
Mongabay: Blue-and-yellow macaws return to São Paulo skies after 50 years, thanks to flying lessons
ASIA
CNN: Siberian Crane: Back from the Brink
Daily Sabah: Protecting Hong Kong’s rare yellow-crested cockatoos
FRANCE
Good News Network: France sees a doubling of eagle mating pairs after decades of successful work
NEW ZEALAND
The New York Times: The Parrot, its parasites and a shared struggle to escape extinction
For decades, the kakapo has been climbing its way back from the brink of extinction.
Luckily, the green parrot, found only in New Zealand, is a good climber. (It has to be, since it cannot fly.) And the bird has had plenty of help from humans who are managing its tiny, but growing, population.
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About Earth Hope:
Earth Hope is a solutions-based journalism project that highlights environmental success stories to inspire action. I’m Amanda Royal, a former newspaper reporter and current eco-news junkie. Read more about this project and what inspired it. Visit earthhope.substack.com for more stories.
I see these on so many beaches. Often get worried due to the amount of trash I also see on the same beaches, glad to hear some good news at least about them!
Another good news story, Amanda! Thanks for spreading the joy! I love plovers -- they're the cutest things running around beaches.