The Return of Piping Plovers on the Plains

Piping plovers spend winters on the sandy shores of the Gulf Coast.

In spring, they fly north to the barren shores of waterways of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Once here, an elaborate courtship begins. Males whistle, spread their wings, and drum their feet — all in an attempt to woo females. Once mates are selected, the tiny birds construct their nests and lay eggs.In spring, they fly north to the barren shores of waterways of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Once here, an elaborate courtship begins. Males whistle, spread their wings, and drum their feet — all in an attempt to woo females. Once mates are selected, the tiny birds construct their nests and lay eggs.

Making chicks is the easy part. The hard part is keeping the chicks safe in an environment that has increasingly favored the predators.

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For more information about piping plovers, visit the animal field guide of MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks..

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 been a tremendous success. An international bird census showed the Northern Great Plains population increasing by 37 percent between 2001 and 2006.

The species, federally listed as threatened in 1985, began its decline with the construction of major dams along the Missouri River. The resulting reservoirs flooded sandbars used by plovers, and created habitat for gulls that eat plover eggs and chicks. Around alkali lakes, tree plantings and other man-made structures created habitat for predators once uncommon on the plains, such as skunks, red fox and raccoons. The loss of native prairie to farming also made it easier for predators to find ground-nesting birds.

The result was a nosedive in piping plover populations on the Great Plains, with some experts predicting the birds’ extinction within 80 years.

In the '90s, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Conservancy and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks began coordinated efforts to reduce the impact of predators around alkali lake habitats. They placed wire cages over nests, which the birds move through freely, but most predators can’t, and erected electric fence to protect newly hatched birds.

These efforts reduced the immediate threat of predation, but were only a stop-gap remedy. Since 2005, recovery efforts have addressed the landscape features that favored the predators, rather than just reducing the predators.

The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Private Stewardship Grant Program began funding projects designed to eliminate the artificial habitats used by predators. Other federal programs, including the FWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, have also provided funds for improving plover habitat on private lands.

Projects vary, depending on landowner interest. Some involve removing trees and woody cover, rock and junk piles, and abandoned buildings near nesting habitat. Other projects are more involved, such as developing stock water sources away from the lakes, seeding marginal cropland back to grass, and implementing grazing systems that encourage grazing away from beaches during the breeding season.

Nature picture credits (left to right): Photo © Bruce Carlson (piping plover); Photo © Bruce Carlson (piping plover eggs).