Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies

Description
The piping plover is a small, thrush-sized shorebird that blends well into its setting. It is primarily the colour of dry sand, but has distinctive black markings (a black collar or breastband, a black band above the white forehead, and a partially black tail); a white rump; and bright orange legs. The short and stout bill is orange with a black tip, and becomes black in winter.

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Approximate range - not for legal use

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Distribution and Population
The circumcinctus subspecies of the Piping Plover is a North American bird that breeds on the American shores of the Great Lakes (Michigan) and throughout the Great Plains from the southern Canadian prairies to Nebraska. It winters along the Atlantic coast, from South Carolina to Florida, and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In Canada, the circumcinctus subspecies breeds in central Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and used to breed in southern Ontario. The numbers of Piping Plovers have been decreasing everywhere. However, the most dramatic declines have occurred in the Great Lakes region. The last known nesting of Piping Plovers on the Canadian Great Lakes occurred at Long Point in 1977. The prairie region had an estimated 1687 adults in 1996. About 25% of the Canadian prairie population occurs in the Quill Lakes area of Saskatchewan, where more than 430 Piping Plovers were observed in 1996.

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Habitat
Piping Plovers nest just above the normal high-water mark on exposed sandy or gravelly beaches. On the prairies, nesting occurs on gravel shores of shallow, saline lakes and on sandy shores of larger prairie lakes. Seeps also provide important foraging habitat on the Prairies.

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Biology
Piping Plovers arrive on their breeding grounds in Canada in late April or May. Males establish a territory and attract a mate with dramatic aerial and ground displays. They scrape a shallow nest-site in sand or gravel, which the female then inspects. Clutches usually contain 4 eggs. Both parents participate in the incubation of eggs and care of nestlings, though the young are able to find their own food within hours of hatching. Females can begin to breed at one year of age and will renest once or twice in a season if the eggs are destroyed, but raise only one brood per year.

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Threats
The most important limiting factor for Piping Plovers is loss of habitat, mostly caused by human use of beaches, and the consequent human disturbance around nesting sites. Dogs and cats prey on the eggs and young, as do gulls and raccoons which are initially attracted to the nesting areas by garbage left by picnickers. On the Prairies, cattle and horses are known to trample nests and their deep hoof prints can trap chicks. Changes in water levels caused by such events as recreational or building activities, dams and seasonal storms are also detrimental to the nesting efforts of this bird. In addition, global warming may reduce the plover's habitat by causing drought in the prairies.

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Protection
The Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies is protected under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). More information about SARA, including how it protects individual species, is available in the Species at Risk Act: A Guide.

The Piping Plover is also protected in Canada under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1917, and the circumcinctus subspecies is also protected under the provincial Endangered Species Acts of Manitoba and Ontario. In Saskatchewan, it was listed as endangered in the 1999 regulations of the provincial Wildlife Act. The Quill Lakes area of Saskatchewan received international recognition as a globally significant Important Bird Area (IBA) in May 1998. Conservation plans for IBAs in Canada are developed in partnership with landowners, naturalists, hunters, government agencies and municipalities, aboriginal groups, scientists, and others.

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Recovery Initiatives
Recovery Plan Status: The National Recovery Plan, covering both the circumcinctus and melodus subspecies, was published in 2002. The recovery teams for the circumcinctus subspecies and the melodus subspecies work cooperatively. These teams also work in conjunction with the two U.S. Piping Plover recovery teams.

Plan Goals: to achieve a viable, self-sustaining and well-distributed population, within the current (2001) Canadian range; to increase the population to at least 2296 adult Piping Plovers (1148 pairs) during three consecutive international censuses (11 years).

Long-term Objectives:

- increase the population to at least 1626 adults and maintain this over two additional consecutive international censuses with no net loss of habitat due to human action;
- increase and maintain a median rate of chick fledging greater than 1.25 chicks per pair per year;
- achieve a minimum of 300 individuals in Alberta, 1200 in Saskatchewan, 120 in Manitoba, and 6 in the Lake of the Woods region of Ontario.

Summary of Research/Monitoring Activities:

- 1990: discovered previously unknown breeding areas in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
- 1993: monitored breeding populations and productivity; discovered a new breeding site in east-central Alberta; the Saskatchewan Wetland Conservation Corporation conducted a study at Big Quill Lake, Saskatchewan on the feasibility of pumping water onto the beach to evaluate its effect on plover productivity.
- 1993 - 1997: studied the effect of nest exclosures on piping plover reproductive success in Alberta.
- 1995: monitored plover nesting efforts at Big Quill Lake, Chaplin Lake, and Lake Diefenbaker.
- 1997: initiated study at Lake Diefenbaker to learn more about plover biology and to seek solutions to nesting losses caused by water management of the reservoir.
- 1998: conducted plover surveys at selected sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario; continued the prairie piping plover multi-media atlas, and expanded it to include Great Lakes information; conducted a public attitude survey in the Lake Diefenbaker area of Saskatchewan, concerning attitudes on water management and endangered species.
- 1998 - 1999: studied productivity and developed a computer simulation model of Piping Plovers at Lake Diefenbaker.
- 1999: monitored Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta sites.
- 2001: investigated key areas for land securement within the Missouri Coteau, habitat for the circumcinctus subspecies.
- 2001-2002 : conducted field research of foraging and diet was carried out at Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan
- 2002 : initiated a study of population dynamics in Saskatchewan to assess survival and site fidelity of Piping Plovers

International Efforts
- 1991, 1996, and 2001: biologists and volunteers from several countries participated in three international censuses of plover breeding grounds and populations.

Summary of Recovery Activities:

- 1990: In Alberta, published a general biology and conservation brochure and fenced off shoreline at some nesting sites to protect plovers' nests from cattle.
- 1993: created habitat at Manitoba's West Shoal Lake.
- 1994: Manitoba volunteers protected nests by surrounding them with fences, and conducted a highly successful public relations campaign; fishermen on Lake Winnipeg agreed to use only one section of a sand spit to load their boats, thus avoiding the best Piping Plover nesting area.
- 1997 - 1998: conducted egg and chick translocations at Lake Diefenbaker; completed a progress report on the 1997 Lake Diefenbaker Piping Plover project.
- 1998: conducted a successful nest exclosure pilot study in Alberta and Saskatchewan; used nest exclosures successfully on two western Ontario nests; completed graduate project on nest exclosures in Alberta; established guardianship program at Grand Beach, Manitoba; habitat protection efforts at an Alberta site served as a demonstration site for ranchers.
1999: continued to use predator exclosures in Alberta and Saskatchewan; completed multi-media atlas for the prairie provinces and Ontario; Alberta ad hoc Piping Plover Committee planned recovery efforts; provided input into the Grand Beach Provincial Park management plan revision to protect Piping Plovers from human disturbance; conducted resource planning to assist new park staff to become familiar with the Piping Plover, its nesting locations, and potential conservation tools; discussion concerning mitigation for reproductive losses at Lake Diefenbaker resulted in a decision to draft a conservation plan.
-2002: first major Canadian egg salvage and captive chick release carried out at Lake Diefenbaker and Chaplin Lake respectively
- 2002 and 2003: wintering ground search for banded plovers in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico area

Summary of Progress to Date:

eEfforts continue at regional levels to carry out recovery actions. Guardianship programs are operating in Grand Beach, Manitoba and Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan..

Nest exclosures continue to increase hatching success in Alberta.

Objectives for 2003 - 2004 are:

1. Protect Piping Plover eggs from predators by putting cages over nests in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
2. Secure approval for Lake Diefenbaker Piping Plover Conservation Plan and associated legal agreement among partners.
3. Conduct a science-based workshop on Piping Plover research and conservation in the Northern Great Plains
4. Locate banded Piping Plovers on the wintering grounds and facilitate wintering ground conservation.

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Recovery Team
Paul Goossen (Chair)
Canadian Wildlife Service
Rm. 200, 2nd Floor
4999 - 98 Avenue
EDMONTON, Alberta
T6B 2X3

TEL (780) 951-8679

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References
Goossen, J.P., D.L. Amirault, J. Arndt, R. Bjorge, S. Boates, J. Brazil, S. Brechtel, R. Chiasson, G.N. Corbett, R. Curley, M. Elderkin, S.P. Flemming, W. Harris, L. Heyens, D. Hjertaas, M. Huot, B. Johnson, R. Jones, W. Koonz, P. Laporte, D. McAskill, R.I.G. Morrison, S. Richard, F. Shaffer, C. Stewart, L. Swanson and E. Wiltse. 2002. National Recovery Plan for the Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus). National Recovery Plan No. 22. Recovery of Nationally Endangered Wildlife. Ottawa. 47 pp.

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