"Go home, bird killers!"
-Hoot, Carl Hiaasen
The Piping Plover:
Status: Near Threatened
Population: 63 pairs in the Great Lakes region in 2008 (not updated)
About the Piping Plover:
The piping plover is a tan-colored bird, with a white underbelly and black ring around its neck. Its head is also tan and white with black at an almost 90 degree angle with the eye-beak line. The beak is orange with a black tip. In winter plumages, piping plover lack the black spots, their bills turn entirely black, and their legs are muted. They are typically 6.7-7.1 inches long.
Habitat destruction is a major cause of piping plover decline; lands formerly used by piping plovers have been industrialized for commercial, recreational, and residential purposes. Disturbance caused from human activity also causes adult piping plovers to abandon chicks. Human tampering with the water may cause an overflow of water, which may drown the chicks, or a scarcity of water, in which the normally acceptable beaches are covered with vegetation. Piping plovers are also harassed by domesticated pets such as dogs and cats. Foxes, gulls, and crows prey on the young chicks and the unhatched eggs, and eggs may also be lost due to accidental crushing by humans. It is, however, notable that piping plovers populations are recovering somewhat from the unrestricted hunting of the 1800's. In the Great Lakes, piping plovers are considered endangered, but, in the Midwest, the same species is only considered threatened. The breeding range has also expanded, which may mean that a few mating pairs are able to reside in more peaceful beaches.
Piping plovers most prefer sand dunes above the tide, with little or no vegetation. They feed in spastic movements of running quickly, then stopping to snap up some food. Piping Plovers eat insects and small invertebrates.
During courtship, the male flies over the territory with slow wingbeats and peeping calls. He then lands, stands erect, and stomps his feet. The nest is a small depression in the ground, usually with only pebbles or sand lining it. Plovers typically lay four eggs, which are very light tan with brown dots. Incubation is around 26-28 days. Chicks are precocial. |