IS THAT A PIPING PLOVER?
Presque Isle sandpipers aim to recover like eagles and falcons
The bald eagle, peregrine falcon and osprey recovered from near extinction, and now a small sandpiper is fighting for a comeback.
The only federally endangered bird that breeds regularly in the state currently is the diminutive piping plover, a small white, doll-like shorebird that scampers along the edge of Lake Erie’s Presque Isle State Park.
Its young are only several inches long and look like white pompoms with legs, noted Sarah Sargent, a longtime monitor of the plover and the executive director of the Erie Bird Observatory at Presque Isle.
Though rarely seen in the state after 1950, the birds have successfully nested at Presque Isle’s protected Gull Point since 2017. The piping plover is a beach and dune habitat specialist, like us.
That’s the problem. Although the shorebird’s nesting area in the park’s Gull Point bird sanctuary is protected, that doesn’t always guarantee success. This sandpiper nests on the ground, opening itself up to disturbances and predation.
“It’s no fault of the park,” said Patti Barber, endangered bird biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “We all are attracted to wild places.”
Along the shores of the Great Lakes and the Eastern seaboard, beach visitors and their vehicles can cause nest abandonment or unknowingly trample the little birds that blend in so well, according to the Game Commission.
Return of the plovers
The Great Lakes piping plovers have been listed as federally endangered since 1986; the Atlantic shore population is doing better and is currently listed as federally threatened.
Last year, the Great Lakes region recorded 80 pairs of nesting piping plovers — the most ever since the bird was listed as endangered, according to the Audubon Society.
The plover’s recovery is possible because of fencing and enclosures around nest sites, monitoring, captive rearing of chicks and public education.
National efforts to protect the birds and re-introduce them included designating critical habitats like Presque Isle.
To lure the plover back to Presque Isle, the game commission manipulated the bird’s habitat at Gull Point by knocking down some vegetation and eradicating invasive plant species.
“We set the stage to make it more attractive. Luckily the birds responded,” Barber said. “You can create good habitat and they are likely to take advantage.”
Plover nests vary from one to four a year at Presque Isle, Sargent said.
Although eggs were recovered last year, two adults died of predation, she said.
“Lots of people like the idea that these special birds keep coming back to our site,” she said. “It’s a point of pride for the region. We have the right habitats and right conditions.”
Comebacks are hard
The plovers have been nesting away from people at Presque Isle’s Gull Point, which is designated a natural area for wildlife rather than people. There are observation platforms available to the public.
Trail access and parts of the point’s beach are closed from April through October for migratory birds and nesting.
Since the walk to Gull Point is long and arduous for beach-goers, there has been little conflict between people and plovers in recent years.
That’s not always the case outside of Pennsylvania. There have been lawsuits and beach restrictions. A music festival was canceled at Montrose Beach in Chicago in 2019 because of hatching piping plover chicks, Sargent noted.
“We haven’t had that situation in Erie yet where the birds had to be protected under the Endangered Species Act,” she said. “The birds have not yet interfered directly with people.”
Comebacks from near extinction are possible through support from the public and Congress, Barber said.
The passage of the Clean Air and Water acts along with the Endangered Species Act in the 1970s set the stage for three giant conservation successes — recovery and endangered species delisting of the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and osprey.
“I don’t think people sat around and talked about how the peregrine falcon was gone east of the Mississippi,” Barber said.
“Back then, there was some public drinking water that wasn’t safe. A lot of those laws and decisions put in place were for human protection,” she noted. “Just as the new laws were protecting humans, they werealso protecting animals.”
Success stories
The banning of DDT, which weakened the eggshells of the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and osprey, was also key.
Then, wildlife agencies like the Game Commission had to restock the depleted populations. PGC staff climbed tall trees to capture bald eagle nestlings in Saskatchewan, Canada. The agency worked with academics and the public to raise and then release bald eagles, peregrine falcons and osprey from the 1970s through the late ’80s.
Population recovery for all three raptors continues today.
“There were peregrine bake sales in Allentown to raise money to feed the peregrines being hacked (raised),” Barber said. “That shows the general public was supporting it. It was a success because we the people wanted it to be a success.
“I don’t think when the Endangered Species Act was passed anyone imagined in Pennsylvania we’d have the number of bald eagles we have now. I think they were hoping we didn’t lose them but not this level of success.”
People also helped, unwittingly, with the osprey’s comeback.
Pennsylvania probably has more osprey now than it did before the DDT population collapse, Barber noted.
“In Pennsylvania, all of the ospreys nest on manmade structures, which is not true in other parts of the country.”
Additionally, the installation of locks and dams on rivers creates impoundments of slow-moving water fitting the osprey’s preference for fishing, she added.
The same could be said for the peregrine falcon, which historically nested mostly on cliffs before the population collapse. Cornell University scientist Tom Cade and his Peregrine Fund came up with the idea of releasing the birds in cities to nest on tall buildings.
In Pittsburgh, many peregrines nest on bridges, Downtown skyscrapers, the Cathedral of Learning at the University of Pittsburgh, and most recently a pair has been frequenting the spires of East Liberty Presbyterian Church.
Common birds
Keeping common birds common is the goal of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s state wildlife action plan, Barber said.
“We learned that recovering a species is hard and expensive,” she said. “The best way to protect what we have is to never get to the point and that is what the whole congressional justification is for the state endangered species programs.”
Preventing endangered species status is tricky, Barber said.
“We want to keep common species common but how do you convince the public to protect wood thrushes when they can find them here in the state?
“It’s a weird juxtaposition to use the lessons in the past from eagles and osprey,” Barber said.
These days, it’s harder to make a big difference with endangered species because there are so many pressures. Migrating birds get disoriented and can perish because of artificial light and tall structures. Although DDT is banned, there is still a suite of toxins in the environment.
“Plants and animals are coming into contact with problem pathogens that they haven’t dealt with before,” she said.
It’s harder for native species to maintain resilience. Add in the loss of a bountiful native food source, the American chestnut, and the food web and ecosystem changes, Barber said.
“It’s like a Jenga tower,” she said. “How long will it last before it falls down?”