In Manitoba, the piping plover is most consistently found
nesting on broad, sparsely vegetated beaches along Lake
Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg, and West Shoal Lake, and occasionally
along Lake Winnipegosis, Katimik Lake, Oak Hammock, Whitewater
Lake, and Oak Lake. Piping plover nests are extremely
vulnerable to predation and human disturbance. Threats to
piping plovers include loss of nesting habitat due to cottage
development, use of nesting beaches by cattle, all terrain
vehicles, sunbathers, or other recreationalists, encroachment
of vegetation, and flooding of nests or feeding areas by
periodic high water levels. The nest itself is a mere scrape
in the sand, lined with and camouflaged by larger pebbles.
Piping plovers have been surveyed annually by the Province
since 1986. Numbers vary greatly from year to year due mainly
to fluctuations in water levels and availability of nesting
beaches, but have been declining considerably from more than
100 pairs in 1986 to fewer than 20 pairs in recent years. The
Clandeboye Bay Special Conservation Area on Lake Manitoba was
set aside for breeding piping plovers in 1983. A sand spit
with management improvements, located near Grand Rapids on
Lake Winnipeg, was dedicated as the Walter Cook Special
Conservation Area in 1994. The Area designates half the spit
for piping plover nesting only, with the remainder of the spit
to be used by commercial fishermen of the area. Recently
Piping plover protection has become a part of the Grand Beach
Provincial Park Management Plan; to help protect the birds,
park staff fence off nesting areas. The piping plover was
designated as Endangered by Manitoba in 1992.
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