Science in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota

Positive Results for Piping Plovers

The piping plover breeds primarily along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to southern Canada and along rivers and wetlands of the northern Great Plains, from Nebraska to the southern Prairie Provinces of Canada. They are also found on portions of the western Great Lakes. The piping plover is listed as a threatened species in North Dakota, where it nests primarily on the shores of shallow alkali lakes or depressions formed by glaciers.

The northern Great Plains population has been declining because of low reproductive success and alteration of breeding habitats and predator communities. At this rate they could disappear from the region within 50 to 100 years. Approximately 300 to 400 pairs of the U.S. Great Plains’ population breeds annually in a range from central North Dakota to northeastern Montana. Efforts to monitor and restore plovers on the lakes and wetlands of this area started in the mid-1980s, and recovery activity has been ongoing since 1991.

In summer 2007, Conservancy staff completed an annual count of nesting piping plovers on and around John E. Williams Preserve in central North Dakota, which revealed that the nesting success increased. Ninety-nine chicks were fledged—making the area one of the species’ most significant nesting sites.

Each year the researchers first look for nests, scanning the beaches for pairs of birds with binoculars or a scope. Once a nest is found, they collect data on the eggs, put a cage around it if possible and regularly monitor it. They also count the number of chicks that hatch and, after 18 days, record how many chicks survived (they are considered fledged 18 days after hatching).

“We need 1.24 chicks per breeding pair to stabilize that population throughout the Great Plains,” said Eric Rosenquist, preserve manager for the Conservancy.” Within our core area—John E. Williams Preserve as well as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands—we believe we stabilize the populations regionally.”

Predators such as gulls and skunks are a threat to the chicks’ survival, and they are an unnatural presence in this landscape. Predator exclosures were placed around the nests this year as a means of increasing success. The Conservancy also removes manmade features such as man-made tree rows, rock piles, garbage piles and perch sites, to reduce shelters for the predators .“I think that predator management is contributing to our success,” remarked Rosenquist.

piping plover nest enclosure at Williams Preserve “We used round metal cages around the nests on Conservancy property to protect the plover nests from mammal and bird predators,” said Christina Anabel, a Conservancy technician who worked on the plover study. “They had not been used in three years, and this may very well be a reason for the better success this year.”

The main objectives for 2007 were to locate and monitor the nests in order to obtain estimates of nest success and fledging rates. On nine alkali lakes and basins, 110 pairs of piping plovers were found and 73 nests were monitored. Ninety-nine chicks were known to have fledged, generating a 1.36 fledging rate per pair—a rate that can allow the population to stabilize. Piping plover research technician monitoring birds

Photo credits (top to bottom, left to right): Piping plover © Jamison Winter/TNC; Newly hatched piping plover © Christina Anabel; nest enclosure at Williams Preserve © Angela Benson/TNC; Piping plover technician monitors the birds © Loretta Young.