Photo Credit: USFWS
The piping plover is a small sand-colored shorebird that nests on the barren shorelines of alkaline (salty) lakes, reservoirs and on riverine sandbars of large river/reservoir systems in the Northern Great Plains. They were named for their flute-like call, which is often heard before they are seen. Plovers nest on the ground in a shallow, hollowed-out bowl lined with small stones. The eggs are cryptically colored, blending in almost perfectly with the surrounding sand and gravel. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the chicks. If threatened, the parents will do a “broken wing display” to try to attract the predator away from the nest or chicks.
The major threat to the species is loss of habitat due to dam construction, which holds back the sediment necessary to create sandbars, and alters riverine flows. Both of these factors have drastically changed river dynamics and sandbar habitat creation processes. The habitat that remains is at risk due to increased predation levels, human disturbance, and invasive vegetation.
In North Dakota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) biologists, in close coordination with The Nature Conservancy and many private landowners, have worked to protect piping plovers since 1983. The Service and The Nature Conservancy have developed relationships with more than 150 private landowners who allow plover monitors to access their land regularly. Plover monitors erect cages to protect the nests from predators and they monitor breeding success, tracking breeding pairs from the time they make a “nest scrape” until the chicks fledge.