Ep. 46 - The Piping Plovers of Sandy Island Beach

Links:
Sandy Beach Island State Park (Pulaski, New York)
Piping Plover running (video)
Piping Plover chick running (video)
Piping Plover chick hiding under their mom (video)
Rockaway Beach (Queens, New York)
An article about Claire and her team (Article)
New York State Parks Blog about the Piping Plovers (Article)
Report Banded Piping Plovers (or email plover@umn.edu)
Great Lakes Piping Plovers of New York (Facebook page)

Notes:
Coordinators on the project include US Fish and Wildlife, SUNY ESF, Onondaga Audubon, and the staff at NYS Parks

The project and Claire’s position are funded annually by the USFWS Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant funding from the Federal Government, DOI, with Regional efforts led by Robyn Niver.

Errata:
Claire mentioned that the Piping Plover weighs the same as a stick of butter. She informed us that she misspoke and meant to say that they weigh about the same as a half of a stick of butter. They’re also about the height of a stick of butter stood up on its end.

Picture credit:

"Piping Plovers" by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Midwest Region

Works Cited:

Robinson, S., Fraser, J., Catlin, D., Karpanty, S., Altman, J., Boettcher, R., Holcomb, K., Huber, C., Hunt, K. and Wilke, A., 2019. Irruptions: evidence for breeding season habitat limitation in Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus).