Piping Plovers On The Move

A Flurry Of Activity Early In The 2019 Nesting Season

Piping plovers spent time exploring the park early last spring looking for suitable nesting sites. Birds were reported on Cat and Michigan Islands at first but they ended up nesting on Long, Stockton, and Outer Islands. This species started nesting on Long Island in the mid-1970s, with the greatest number of chicks hatched and fledged between 2006 and 2015 (between 5 and 17). However, high water levels and more storm events in recent years have reduced the width of the beach nesting habitat on Long Island, likely prompting the early exploration this last year.

Map of Aposlte Islands National Lakeshore

[NPS Photo]

Outer Island

This is the second year piping plovers nested on Outer Island (to our knowledge) and they chose a spot on the west side of the sandspit, just south of the lagoon.

Plovers nest on beaches away from trees or shrubs that can hide predators.

[NPS Photo]

This is the first egg at the Outer Island nest. Plovers nest in areas with rocks to help hide their eggs.

[NPS Photo]

Small areas are closed to public use to give the birds space to nest and raise their chicks. Signs, twine, and an exclosure over the nest identify closed areas.

[NPS Photo}

Stockton Island

At the beginning of June this last summer, park staff were at Stockton Island, Julian Bay and heard piping plovers uttering their distinctive "peep-lo" call. A quick search revealed a nest with 3 eggs. Park staff closed a small area and placed a wire mesh exclosure over the nest to protect the eggs from predators and human disturbance.

Adult plovers readily re-enter these exclosures within minutes of set-up and continue incubation.

A piping plover entering an enclosure and settling back on her eggs.

[NPS Photo]

Long Island traditional nesting grounds. High lake levels and increasing storms have caused the beach to narrow over the past several years and reduced habitat for plovers.

[NPS Photo]

Long Island

At the beginning of the 2019 season three pairs of adults set up nests in the traditional nesting area on this island. One nest was quickly abandoned and a second nest had 4 eggs that hatched. Unfortunately, the adult male and one chick disappeared from this nest. Females often start their southern migration within a week of eggs hatching and males tend to the young during this last stage. However the female on this nest ended up staying until the three remaining chicks fledged.

These birds make a simple scrape in the sand for their nest and rely on the camouflaged egg color for concealment. A full clutch has 4 eggs - can you spot them?

[NPS Photo]

[NPS Photo/Anne Geraghty]

[NPS Photo/Anne Geraghty]

[NPS Photo/Anne Geraghty]

Captive-Rearing - Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort

Each season Piping Plover monitors are trained to recognize and watch for the signs that a nest will likely be abandoned. Unfortunatly some nests are inevitably abandoned each season, most often when an adult plover is taken by a predator or when high water washes out a nest. 

Staff at the Pellston Captive Rearing Station candled the eggs when they arrived to make sure they were still viable.

[NPS Photo/Peggy Burkman]

Three eggs were laid in the third nest. On June 24, a piping plover monitor watching the nest realized that adults had abandoned it. After consulting with park staff she collected the eggs and placed them in a portable incubator for transport off the island. Park staff met the boat, transported the incubator to the Upper Peninsula and passed it off to other Great Lakes Piping Plover staff who finally delivered to the Captive Rearing Station in Pellston, Michigan (see link below). The three chicks were raised and later released with other chicks of the same age at Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula on August 6th.

Female adult bird with leg bands. She was banded in 2008 on Long Island.

[Photo/Ryan Brady]

Banding Day

On July 15th park staff banded chicks on all three islands. Four were banded on Long Island, three on Stockton Island, and two on Outer Island. Banding involves placing a single metal band and colored plastic bands on the upper and lower legs. The bands identify individuals and where they hatched.

There are several benefits of banding. It is easier to get more accurate population counts, and to understand if and how birds are moving between various Great Lakes nesting grounds. This information is then used to determine how genetically diverse the population is, which is important to their long term survival.

Female piping plover with leg bands.

[Photo/Ryan Brady]

Adult Birds

The Piping Plovers that use the park are part of the Endangered Great Lakes population. They are rare because of habitat loss from commercial, residential, and recreational development, natural predators, and nest disturbance from people. The Latin name for piping plovers is Charadrius melodus. Melodus is a refers to 'melody' like the "peep-lo" sound they make. Click on the website below to hear adult birds.

Male Piping Plover with leg bands. The red band on the bird's right leg indicates he was reared in the captive rearing station in Pellston, Michigan.

[NPS Photo]

Adults are similar in size to robins and have a buff-colored back and pale underparts. Dark bands cross their foreheads and encircle their necks. Their short bill is also tipped with dark color. These bands are more fully developed in males compared to females - the bird on the right is a male and the one below is a female.

Piping Plovers

The Piping Plover is a threatened and endangered shorebird that inhabits wide, open beaches, alkali flats, and sandflats of North America...

 

Female Piping Plover with leg bands.

[NPS Photo/Alice Ahlfield]

Plover Management

Piping plover management is accomplished in collaboration with the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy and Johnson family, and University of Minnesota researchers. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has provided financial support for this project in recent years.

What You Can Do to Help

• Stay away from nesting enclosures. Walk close to the water when nesting sites are observed. Keep your distance and obey all closed area postings.

• Always keep dogs on a 6-foot non-retractable leash. Dogs can chase nesting plovers resulting in nest abandonment.

• Leave lake vegetation and driftwood on beaches. These provide food and shelter for plover chicks.

• Learn more about piping plovers. Visit GreatLakesPipingPlover.org for more information.

Dogs must be on a 6-foot leash in the park.

[NPS Photo]

Piping Plover tracks.

[NPS Photo]