The Piping Plover is a small, pale shorebird that inhabits beaches, shorelines, and dry lakebeds. It is threatened or endangered throughout its relatively small range. Many beach-goers are familiar with the fencing and warning signs that have been erected around breeding sites critical to the recovery of this species.

Unlike most shorebirds the Piping Plover inhabits just one continent: North America. Once commonly seen in all suitable shoreline habitat east of the Rocky Mountains, the Piping Plover now has a patchy distribution within three small breeding populations in Canada and the United States: the northern Great Plains, around two of the Great Lakes, and along a limited stretch of the Atlantic coast. It winters along the coasts of the southeastern U.S., northeastern Mexico, and the northern Caribbean.

Piping Plover populations declined primarily as a result of unrestricted hunting in the 1800s then rebounded following the effects of legislative protection from the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918. However, after World War II the rapid development of coastal areas and the general increase in beach-oriented recreation resulted in significant Piping Plover population declines throughout its coastal range. It wasn't until the listing of the Piping Plover under the Endangered Species Act in 1986 that species again began a trend of recovery. Intensive conservation efforts have resulted in stabilized and slowly increasing populations in some regions.

Habitat destruction, human disturbance, and predation continue to be the primary threats to Piping Plovers. Nests and young can be destroyed by unrestricted off-road vehicles, beach-goers, and unleashed pets. Inland plover populations can be threatened by water management practices on river systems; the release of water from dammed areas may flood nests and young and the redistribution of water during drought periods may disrupt nesting and feeding. Conservation and economic interests need to be explored and balanced carefully. In 1986, approximately 126 pairs of Piping Plovers nested in Massachusetts; after years of focused conservation efforts, by 2003, an estimated 530 pairs nested there. Management and protection of coastal habitats that take both recreation and wildlife into account is vital in order to further increase Piping Plover populations.

National Audubon Society. 2002. Piping Plover. Bird Conservation, Audubon WatchList.

 

Birdlife International. 2006. Piping Plover – Birdlife Species Fact Sheet

 

Fish and Wildlife – Piping Plover

Learn more about this species and other birds through these resources.

Haig, S.M. 1992. Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). In The Birds of North America, No. 2 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C: The American Ornithologists' Union.

 

Hecker, S. 2006. Piping Plover Fact Sheet. National Audubon Society, Audubon Coastal Bird Conservation Program.

 

Kaufman, Kenn. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin Company, New York.