The piping plover is a small shore bird which has been listed as endangered in Ontario. Adult piping plovers are smaller than a robin with round, plump bodies. The back and head is sandy brown in colour with a white breast and throat. They have yellow/orange legs. During the breeding season the adults have short, stubby, orange bills with a black tip, a black unibrow and a broken black band around the neck. The black bib, brow and big black eyes are very prominent. Piping plovers camouflage very well with their surroundings and often go unnoticed until they scurry across the sand in search of food. Unlike many other shorebirds, piping plovers often forage alone or in very small groups.
Piping plovers migrate to the sandy, rocky beaches of Ontario’s Great Lakes Region each spring to breed and raise their chicks. Pairs often return to the same beach each year and nest very close in proximity to the nesting site used the previous year. The adult birds arrive in southern Ontario in late April to early May. The males will claim a territory and create several indentations in the ground by scraping with his feet and then molding a cup with his body. The female will then decide which of these scraped out nests she prefers and use shells, pebbles and vegetation debris to camouflage her nesting spot. The males perform elaborate mating rituals to earn the privilege of mating with the female.
In late May, the female will lay two to four (usually four) cream coloured eggs, speckled with browns and blacks which blend in with the sandy ground. The incubation period is about 27 days and is completed by both the male and female parents. Once the chicks hatch they are able to run within hours and leave the nest. The chicks forage independently for marine micro invertebrates in the sand along shorelines while being protected by their watchful parents. Parents make a “peeping sound” sounding somewhat like baby ducks as they move about and will scold and perform “broken wing acts” to distract predators from their chicks. While the chicks are small they will periodically hide under the parents in their breast feathers to take refuge from elements and predators or just rest. Within a few days the female leaves and the male is left to care for and protect the young until they can fly which is approximately 30 days after hatching. Once the chicks are fledged and can fly at least 50 metres the male leaves as well and the chicks will stay together to forage and feed for another two to three weeks and then they will leave the nest beach as well.
We are fortunate enough to live within a reasonable driving distance of Presqu’ile Provincial Park, one of the few nesting beaches used by piping plovers in Ontario. This year, 2023, one nesting pair used the beach to nest and raise their chicks. We first spotted four adult birds on the beach in late April, foraging for food and claiming nesting territories. The area experienced a week of frequent rains which flooded the beach and one of the pairs moved on. The second pair was not seen for quite some time but we later found out from Conservation staff that the pair had nested further down the beach off park property.Â
Three chicks hatched on approximately June 23, 2023 and within a couple of days protective fences had been installed on areas of the beach as well as signs warning beach visitors to give the plovers space and to watch where you step. Provincial Park staff and Conservationists watched and checked on the parents and chicks almost daily to protect them from human activity and try to ensure a successful breeding season. The staff in attendance were often happy to share information about when mom and dad left, when the chicks would be expected to fly and when they were predicted to leave the beach. Most of our information was obtained from one of the park staff who had focused the majority of her university studies on piping plovers.
The chicks are very small and hide easily on the sand and among small plants on the beach. If you are lucky, you can catch glimpses of them as they run along the sand, probing it with their beaks and foraging for food. We sat at a respectful distance and watched as the chicks foraged, occasionally brooding up with one of the parents to rest before running off again. The adult bird would stand up and the chicks would appear from their breast feathers, as if they kind of “fell” out. If the chicks got too far away or a parent bird spotted danger, they would call out and the chicks would run under the protective cover of the parent if they were close enough or crouch low and freeze still if they were a bit of a distance away.Â
We were able to get back to the park approximately once a week to check on the chicks and update photos of their growth. During a visit to the park when the chicks were approximately ten days old we noticed the chicks now had bands on their legs to identify them. As the chicks got older, they could be observed further and further from the male as we watched the chicks carefully, ever watchful of danger. If we got too close he would raise his wings and call to warn us to keep our distance. During a visit to the park the first week of August, park staff shared that one of the chicks had already left, the other two were foraging on the beach and were expected to leave in the next day or so. So, until next year when we hope to see these piping plovers return to their beach once again.
