Snowy Plover Update - June 15, 2022

June 15, 2022 Posted by: Matt Lau

Overview

Hello Ploverites!

We now have four confirmed snowy plover fledglings this season! One chick from Limantour Beach and three chicks from North Beach have survived to 28 days after hatching. The males from these broods will likely depart these fledglings to find new mates and establish new nests. The fledglings may stick around or may disperse and fly to other sites along the coast.

Point Reyes National Seashore biologists, including myself, collaborated with Point Blue Conservation Science to conduct research on climate-smart conservation of western snowy plovers. This resulted in a peer-reviewed manuscript that will be published soon in the Human-Wildlife Interactions scientific journal and as a news brief article in NPS's Park Science e-magazine! The peer-reviewed article will soon be published in Human–Wildlife Interactions. The Park Science article will be published on June 22.


Addendum June 26, 2022:

Lau, Matthew J. (2022) "Western Snowy Plovers Could Face Multiple Threats from Climate Change," Park Science: Vol. 36: Iss. 1. Available at: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/western-snowy-plovers-could-face-multiple-threats-from-climate-change.htm (accessed 26 June 2022)

Lau, Matthew J.; Becker, Benjamin H.; and Press, David T. (2022) "Common Raven Impacts on the Productivity of a Small Breeding Population of Snowy Plovers," Human–Wildlife Interactions: Vol. 15: Iss. 3, Article 13. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol15/iss3/13 (accessed 26 June 2022)


Not much has changed since last week, but here are updates organized by beach sites:

Kehoe (K):

There are two active nests on north Kehoe Beach. Both are projected to hatch by mid-July.

Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA):

There are currently no active nests within the RA. There was a significant amount of nesting activity and several pairs here very early in the season, but they seem to have dispersed.

Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP):

This is our most active site currently. There are six active nests, mostly within a mile of North Beach parking lot. There are no active broods at this site, though several nests are expected to hatch in the coming two weeks.

North Beach (NB):

There hasn't been any breeding activity between North Beach and South Beach parking lots since the start of the season.

South Beach (SB):

No breeding activity has been observed at this site this year.

Limantour (L):

One nest remains active at this site along with one brood consisting of a single chick. We expect another nest or two to pop up soon.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, via email.

CURRENT STATS:

  • 24 total nests this season
    • 9 active nest
    • 9 hatched
    • 6 failed nests
  • 1 chicks on the beach
  • 4 chicks confirmed fledged

A photo of a small bird tracks leading to and from a small depression in the sand next to some dried kelp.A well-defined scrape with fresh snowy plover tracks around it. Both males and females will create scrapes during courtship. Eventually the female will decide where she will lay her eggs.

A close-up photo of a small black-speckled, beige-colored chick emerging from its egg next to two small black-speckled, beige-colored eggs sitting on sand.A nest with a single chick in the process of hatching! Once fully hatched, the chick will take a couple of hours to fully dry off and will already be mobile.

A photo of three small black-speckled, beige-colored eggs sitting on sand adjacent to two small pieces of driftwood.An Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA) nest, well camouflaged among coarse sand.


The National Park Service shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. These data and related graphics (if available) are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The information contained in these data is dynamic and may change over time. The National Park Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. For more information: https://www.nps.gov/disclaimer.htm

PointReyes, PointReyesNationalSeashore, bird, birds, plover, plovers, snowyplover, snowyplovers, westernsnowyplover, westernsnowyplovers, Charadriusnivosus, Charadriusnivosusnivosus



Last updated: June 16, 2022

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