Good news for piping plovers

Northeastern Montana & western North Dakota 

One of the rarest birds in North America, the piping plover, has been making a comeback on the alkali flats of Montana and North Dakota. The Conservancy began working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999 on a comprehensive recovery effort for the species. To date, the program has yielded tremendous success in nesting and chick survival rates.

New funding will allow the Conservancy and the Service to provide landowners with technical assistance and cost-share funding to make changes that reduce predation (such as using metal cages and electric fences) and improve piping plover habitat. Also, the Service has hired a biologist to coordinate activities aimed at increasing breeding success.

A side benefit of the project: Waterfowl and other nesting birds should also benefit from these habitat improvements.

More information about piping plovers is available at the Montana Natural Heritage Web Site.
 
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Piping plover © Betty Darling Cottrille

Piping plover facts:

• These small shore birds resemble killdeer.
• They're attracted to alkali wetlands, which have salt and mineral concentrations that far exceed the oceans. .
• They are federally listed as a threatened species in Montana.
• They began their decline when the construction of five major dams along the Missouri River flooded sandbar habitat.