MARY
ANN THOMAS | Sunday, July 30, 2017, 8:33 p.m.
The piping plover, a federally
endangered bird missing from Pennsylvania for 60 years is finally breeding at
Presque Isle State Park in Erie, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Named after its high-pitched
piping call, the piping plover is a robin-sized shorebird that nests on beaches
and is colored to blend in with sand and sticks.
Unfortunately, the birds'
breeding habitat, open beaches, is also preferred by people.
Development and human traffic on
beaches coupled with predation has caused steep declines in the plover
population through the 1940s and 1950s.
The Game Commission and the
Audubon Society reported two piping plover chicks, which were banded, from one
of two nests at the park's Gull Point.
Strong waves overtook the second
nest, however, the Game Commission and Audubon biologists rescued the eggs,
which were transferred first to the Detroit Zoo and then to the University of
Michigan Biological Station piping plover captive-rearing facility. Two chicks
hatched and will be released on Lake Michigan in early August.
“This is a testament to
dedication and teamwork, not only in Pennsylvania but throughout the species'
range,” said Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Program Chief.
“Their return wasn't by chance, or an accident.”
According to the Audubon Society,
bringing the plovers back to the peninsula has taken a lot of work. Audubon
provided the “eyes in the field” since 2009, with Mary Birdsong and other
monitors providing daily updates on bird sightings and activity to all the
agencies involved.
Audubon said it monitors noted,
for instance, a tripling of the shorebird population at Gull Point after groups
removed invasive plants and other vegetation taking over the sandy beach
habitat that plovers and other shorebirds need.
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