NEW! Brochure: The Piping Plover in Eastern Canada

The Piping Plover’s best defense mechanism is its ability to blend into its habitat; unfortunately, this makes it vulnerable to its worst enemies: people.

Species Description:

The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small, sparrow-sized shorebird found nesting on our coastal sandy beaches. The bird is light sand-grey with a black band across the crown and a single black neck bar frequently broken in the middle. Piping Plovers blend in well with their habitat and become almost invisible among the pebble and shell fragments where they nest. They depend on this camouflage to hide their nest from potential predators such as raccoons, foxes, skunks, and crows who may eat the eggs or young.

Distribution:

The Piping Plover is found only in North America. This species nests on sandy beaches along the Atlantic Coast from St. Pierre et Miquelon, France; the Magdalen Islands, Québec; Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and south to North Carolina. In Canada, the Piping Plover also nests in the prairie provinces; however, here they nest above the high water mark of rivers and wetlands. The birds spend their winters in southerly areas including the Carolinas to Yucatan, the Bahamas, and the West Indies.

Threats:

The Piping Plover was listed as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada in 1985 because of many factors affecting the survival of young. Predators, habitat loss, human disturbance on the nesting ground, and nest flooding are thought to result in few young surviving to replace adult plovers. The effect of years of continual impact has resulted in fewer nesting Piping Plovers returning to our beaches to nest.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

When walking, playing, or riding on beaches, check the area carefully for any signs of these well-camouflaged little birds and their nests. Should you be lucky enough to see one, stay well away from it and report your finding to Environment Canada.