Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)

• Appearance: sandy-gray back, black brow and breast-band, black-tipped bill, white underside, black stripe markings on wings
  • In the winter, piping plovers’ black bands fade and their beaks change from orange to black
  • Males have bolder markings on head and chest than females, who have markings but are thinner
• Length: about 7 inches
• Wingspan: about 15 inches
• Status: coastal populations are threatened by land development, but currently growing
  • Off-road vehicles pose biggest threat to piping plovers out of any human disturbance
• Habitat
  • Wide, flat, open sandy beaches without vegetation
  • Compared to other shorebirds, usually found on higher part of shoreline away from the tides
    • Can also be found in dry, sandy inland areas near rivers or lakes
  • Breeding populations only found in 3 areas of world: east Atlantic coast, Great Lakes region, river systems of Northern Great Plains

• Diet
  • Feed on marine worms, fly larvae, beetles, insects, crustaceans, mollusks and other small invertebrates
  • Forage on shore, when prey is spotted they quickly run over and stop short to snatch prey
    • Piping plovers often walk or run rather than fly
  • Piping plovers may mistake plastics for shells of their prey, and if eaten they could become sick
• Migration
  • Piping plovers arrive at breeding grounds on the North Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes during March
  • August-October they migrate down to the Gulf coast following the shoreline
  • Average flight speed is about 20 mph
  • Sometimes overwintering birds are found in the Bahamas and the Caribbean
  • Piping plovers return to the same breeding grounds every year, but normally find new mates with each new breeding season
• Nesting
  • Piping plovers nest in wetlands
  • Male selects nesting site, courts female by flying over her and makes bell-like whistling calls, then defends nesting territory from other plovers
  • Breeding pairs may nest near terns
  • Both males and females incubate the eggs
  • Nests are shallow holes dug in ground lined with pebbles or broken shells
    • Plovers usually dig multiple depressions in the sand before deciding which one to use
  • Average brood is 4 sandy-colored eggs
    • Eggs are well-camouflaged from predators, but it is for this reason they are in danger of being stepped on by humans
    • If nesting site fails or is abandoned, piping plovers may relocate and lay another clutch of eggs, this time with about 3 eggs
  • Chicks are able to forage for food themselves shortly after hatching
    • They are never fed by their parents
  • Young plovers fledge when they are about 3-4 weeks old
  • Piping plovers may abandon their nests in the presence of humans
    • In Long Island, there are some areas of the beach reserved for nesting
  • Average lifespan is about 5 years, but the oldest bird captured on Long Island was 14 years old