Plover Love

     So I have been unemployed since April 29th and keeping myself busy and contributing to the world by volunteering with NYC Plover Project. It's been a very exciting experience that has my heart and soul invested in these little birds. I have felt everything from pure joy and wonder, to curiosity, and even worry and sadness. Being that these are wild animals, the natural world is tough living and I have had to remind myself that while I am absolutely in love, it's not easy being a plover!

    Thankfully, people on the beach, for the most part are understanding, receptive, and thankful to learn more about these birds and help them stay safe. But I feel so fortunate to have this window into their little lives (from a respectful distance) and see things I have never seen before, their behaviors, their calls, their tenacity, and determination. Plus, all the happenings that go on around them, bottlenose dolphins, various shorebirds coming and going, my first winter skate egg case, and all kinds of mysterious things washing ashore from fish to ctenophores.

    These birds have inspired me a ton, and the work volunteers and Gateway Biological Techs have been doing blow me away and give me hope for the little birds. I am proud to have helped build exclosures around their very tiny, hidden nests, seen babies on their first day of hatching, and seeing other couples going through the motions of courtship and nest building,

Here is a chick at not even a full day old.

Unlike songbirds, piping plovers can walk soon after hatching. They are called precocial, similar to how baby chickens operate. They can walk and feed on their own, but cannot fly, so they still need mom and dad around to provide protection and to learn about being a plover from!

The grownups have to eat and refuel a bunch, they have a lot of chicks to wrangle!

The chicks zip around pretty quickly.

In just a few days they are really on the move (and extremely cute).

Even the birder who refuses to call birds "cute" surely cannot resist attaching that descriptor to such a tiny little floof.

Literally no bigger than a golf ball, these little chicks are susceptible to gulls, racoons, even the ghost crabs that scour these sands.

But other big, unnatural threats include the things we do. Simply walking the beach, these babies crouch when they feel threated and hope to blend in. For people, we barely notice and babies risk being stepped on (I know the thought alone hurts my heart).

Our pets also pose a giant threat to them. Cats are NOT part of nature, we put them there and they are relentless killing machines. Pet dogs, leashed or not, also are a threat, they trample chicks unknowingly, and the ones who do notice the chicks find them irresistible to chase. And dogs in an area could cause parent birds to risk their lives trying to distract what they see as a predator.

Trash is also a problem. While a baby bird may not eat the plastic behind it, the copious food wrappers and debris left by people attract rats and raccoons in higher volumes than they naturally should be occurring. And of course, if they happen upon a chick, its Bon appetite. 

So want to protect some little babies? Easy.
Leave dogs home.
Leave kites home.
Be aware they live here, look for them and give them space.
Stay out of the dunes, this is their refuge!
Take your trash home with you - don't even bother with the trash cans, take it home and dispose of it there.

Also, just tell other people about these cuties and how to be a good neighbor to wildlife!

Footprints for scale, living on NYC beaches as a plover chick is like playing in a busy street.

On another day this week I felt fortunate to see the courtship behavior of the plovers, which includes the male walking tall behind the female and high stepping and "kicking" her with each foot as he steps. Soon after the pair took turns making scrapes in the sand, a nesting behavior,

A lot of folks think only flamingoes do the one foot up thing, but all birds do it when resting.

I love the contrast of these tiny, seemingly delicate birds who choose to live next to one of the greatest forces this planet has to offer, the ocean.

Sometimes I also get to see some delightful plover neighbors.
This short billed dowitcher is just moving though the area, stopping over for a simple refuel of mole crab.

These birds breed north of here and will return later on in August as they head back south for their wintering grounds.

I also saw my first semipalmated sandpipers arriving. Again, their breeding grounds are to the north. This is just a pitstop, so unlike the plovers, these migrating birds don't quite has the same worries, but they benefit from the protections that are in place like no dogs, no kites, and not trampling the dunes.