Western Snowy Plover Quick Reads

“I'm originally from Iowa, born and raised. I guess I’ve been out in nature since I was a little kid. My dad was a hunter and fisherman. In the winter times he would take me out along the Mississippi River, and we'd be eagle watching—watching them catch fish in the ice. And [we’d go] canoeing and were always going to science museums. I was a pretty high energy kid and so I think part of it was probably trying to get me outdoors, going crazy with me inside."

“Being a wildlife biologist is pretty awesome, I have to say. To me, it's the dream job. It's definitely very hard work, labor-wise. I mean I'm walking long distances on the beach almost every day between March until September, during the plover season. It's like type-2 fun where it's difficult in the moment but afterwards, it's very rewarding. Especially after, say, attending a nest hatch and devoting several days to monitoring the chicks and seeing them grow up and fledge."

Western Snowy Plovers nest in only half as many locations in California as they did prior to 1970, indicating that habitat degradation has taken its toll on ecosystem health. Point Blue began annual breeding-season Western Snowy Plover monitoring at Point Reyes National Seashore in 1995. The National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program took over in 2008.

Western Snowy Plovers are excellent indicators of the health and diversity of sandy beach ecosystems. The National Park Service began monitoring overwintering Western Snowy Plovers at Ocean Beach in 1994. When the first plovers appeared on the newly restored beach and dunes at Crissy Field in 2004, the NPS began monitoring there as well.