Piping Plover

Wikimedia image Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) Whether or not you can see them, the presence of piping plovers on the beach is usually evident by posted signs and fenced off areas. The piping plover is a relatively small bird, about 7 inches long, found on the northern seashore. Adult piping plovers have a whitish underside and sandy colored back and head. They are easily identified by the black band running across their forehead that nearly extends from eye to eye. Adults also have a narrow black band circling their neck and yellowish orange legs. Piping plovers are present on New England beaches in the spring and summer, departing in the early fall to head south for the winter. They migrate here in the early spring to breed and prefer to nest in open sandy areas and on outer beaches. For nesting, a mating pair of piping plovers digs a depression in the sand near the edge of the dunes on the upper beach. Nests usually contain 4 eggs and may be lined with shell pieces and small beach stones. The young hatch less than a month later and can fly soon thereafter. Adult plovers are very protective of their young. If a predator approaches, the adult will try to draw the attention away from their young by moving about and faking injuries. A short while after hatching, the young will start to forage with the adults. Plovers search for food in the sand, looking for insects, small crustaceans, and other marine invertebrates. Their movements along the beach can be quite amusing to watch as they run down the beach in short bursts often stopping abruptly when they spy something. Piping plover populations are in decline due to human encroachment on their habitat and predation from domestic pets and wild predators. For these reasons, piping plovers are protected under the Endangered Species Act. This means that there are legal penalties for catching or hurting the birds. Do not approach plovers that you see on the beach, especially ones near the dunes where they may be protecting nests. Please, observe posted signs, remain outside roped-off areas and keep all pets leashed! Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 1073 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Comment smaller | bigger I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage. Write the displayed characters Add Comment

 

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