The Piping Plover
(Charadrius melodus)
The piping plover is a small, stocky shorebird. Both sexes are similar in size and color; upper parts are pale brownish, under parts are white. A black band across the forehead over the eye, and a black ring around the base of the neck are distinguishing marks in adults during the summer, but are obscure during the winter. The adults weigh 1.5 to 2 ounces; have a length of 7 inches, and a wingspread of 15 inches. The bird's call is a plaintive "peep-lo" whistle.
Piping
plovers nest along the gravelly shorelines of the Great Lakes, sandy beaches of
the
Piping plovers arrive on their breeding grounds in late March or early April. Following establishment of nesting territories and courtship rituals, the pair forms a depression in the sand generally on an upper beach close to dunes. The nest often is lined with stones or small fragments of shell.
Piping plovers eat worms, fly larvae, beetles, crustaceans, mollusks, and other invertebrates, which are plucked from the sand. Chicks begin feeding on smaller sizes of these same foods shortly after they hatch.
The
piping plover is currently endangered due to habitat modification and
destruction, as well as, human disturbance.