Piping plover (Charadrius melodus) residence description: chapter 1

Species Information

Species Information

Common Name - Piping Plover

Scientific Name - Charadrius melodus (circumcinctus and melodus subspecies)

Current COSEWIC Status & Year of Designation - Endangered (2001)

Occurrence in Canada - circumcinctus subspecies: Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba (Figure 1) and Ontario; melodus subspecies: Québec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (Figure 2)

Rationale for Designation - Predation, habitat loss and human disturbance

Figure 1. Known distribution of the Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies in Prairie Canada.
Although piping plovers have nested in the Great Lakes region of Ontario in the past, they are now considered extirpated from this area. However, the American Great Lakes population is increasing, and it is possible that piping plovers may again nest in the Canadian Great Lakes region.

Known distribution of Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies in Prairie Canada (See long description below)
Long description of Figure 1

The extant breeding range of C. m. circumcinctus extends from east-central Alberta through southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba to Lake of the Woods in southwestern Ontario. The northernmost known breeding occurrence of the plover is Lake Athabasca, in northern Saskatchewan; however, it is not known if plovers breed regularly there. In southern Ontario, confirmed breeding has not occurred along the shores of the Great Lakes since 1977 (Goossen et al. 2002). Historically, Piping Plovers were likely common residents along shores of the four Great Lakes in Ontario; breeding has been documented on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and Lake Huron (Russell 1983).

Although the wintering ranges of the three continental breeding populations of Piping Plovers overlap, the majority of inland breeders winter along the Gulf of Mexico (Haig and Oring 1988a). Banded Prairie Canada birds have been observed in Mexico, Texas, Alabama, and Florida (Mehl 2003; Stucker et al. 2003; D. Prescott, pers. comm.; Canadian Wildlife Service, unpubl. data). A few have also been seen along the Atlantic coast (Canadian Wildlife Service, unpubl. data). U.S. Great Lakes plovers predominantly winter on the Atlantic coast and Gulf coast of Florida (Haig and Elliott-Smith 2004). Plovers banded in Michigan have been sighted in Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, southern Virginia, and the Bahamas (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003).

Figure 2. Known distribution of the Piping Plover melodus subspecies in Eastern Canada and St. Pierre et Miquelon, France.

Piping Plover melodus subspecies Range Map (See long description below)
Long description of Figure 2

The Piping Plover (melodus subspecies) nests in coastal areas of Newfoundland (southwest coast), Québec (Magdalen Islands), Nova Scotia (southern Atlantic coast, a few beaches along the Northumberland Strait, and Cape Breton Island), Prince Edward Island (along the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast), and New Brunswick (the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Northumberland Strait coast).

The Piping Plover (melodus subspecies) winters along the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. Plovers banded in eastern Canada have been observed during the winter in North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, the Bahamas, and Cuba (Gratto-Trevor pers com and Amirault-Langlais, in prep.).

1) The Nest

Physical Appearance and Context

The residence of the Piping Plover is defined as the nest. The nest is a small (9-10 cm in diameter and 1-2 cm deep) bowl-shaped depression (a “scrape”), usually lined with small, light-coloured pebbles (Figure 3)4 or shell fragments. Multiple scrapes may be constructed within a breeding territory and it may take several days for the pair to settle on one nest.  Nests are rarely, if ever, reused2.

Figure 3. Typical Piping Plover nest
Photo by J. Paul Goossen

Figure 3. Typical Piping Plover nest. Photo by J. Paul Goossen

Figure 4. Typical Piping Plover breeding habitat at an alkali lake.
Note gravel habitat near the middle of picture.
Photo by J. Paul Goossen

Figure 4. Typical Piping Plover breeding habitat at an alkali lake. Note gravel habitat near the middle of picture. Photo by J. Paul Goossen

The most frequent clutch size is four eggs which are laid in 7 days3. The eggs are pale buff marked with fine splotches of black, brownish-black, or purplish ²black and measure approximately 32 mm x 24 mm². After hatching, the precocial (mobile within a few hours) young remain in the nest until dry. Chicks make foraging forays away from the nest but return to the nest to be brooded by the adult2

circumcinctus subspecies  

Piping Plovers establish their nests on beaches, islands and sand spits of alkali2 (Figure 4) and freshwater1  lakes, river sand bars2 and occasionally on artificial habitats such as parking lots or dyke roads1. Wide, sparsely vegetated sand or mixed sand and gravel beaches are preferred. Nests are rarely located in dense alkali areas of beaches2. Nests are sometimes found beside small rocks. The annual suitability of the plover's nesting habitat may be unpredictable from year to year because precipitation and drought influence wetland conditions1. River and reservoir nesting habitats are affected primarily by the timing and amount of water from mountain snow melt and secondarily by heavy precipitation events and water management operations.

melodus subspecies

Piping Plovers establish their nests on sand, pebble, gravel and cobble beaches, barrier islands, sandspits or peninsulas found in marine coastal areas. Occupied beaches are generally wide and most often with sparse vegetation. Artificial habitats such as those created by deposition of dredge spoils and gravel parking areas located near coastal zones are occasionally used. Winter storms may create new nesting habitat in previously unsuitable coastal areas.

Function

The function of the nest residence is to provide protection, shelter, and the required conditions for egg laying, incubation, and hatching, as well as brooding hatchlings. Parents and chicks abandon the nest within a day of the last egg hatching and do not use the nest during the remainder of the breeding season. Parents and young may remain within the territory where the nest was built unless disturbed3 or move beyond the territory for other reasons.

Damage and destruction of the residence

Damage or destruction to the nest includes loss of access, function and/or structure of the nest. Of concern under Species at Risk Act (SARA) are direct and indirect anthropogenic effects on the residence. This includes, but is not limited to, water management (flooding), cattle management (trampling nests), recreational activities (e.g. beach activities, pets, all terrain vehicles or other motorized or non-motorized vehicles), sand mining and extraction, discharge of oil and industrial, cottage and landscape developments or modification activities (beach cleaning, trampling, leveling, or dumping).

Period and frequency of occupancy

Piping Plovers normally use nests from early May to late July. Most first clutches are initiated during the first two weeks of May2.  Nests with eggs in April or August are a rare occurrence. Active nests should be protected annually during 1 May through to 15 August. Piping Plovers normally produce only one brood per year, however renesting is possible if the eggs are lost. Adults exhibit high fidelity to breeding sites, regularly returning to previously used habitats in subsequent years. Protection should include nest building, egg laying, incubation, hatching, and immediate post-hatching periods - a total time frame of approximately 40 days.

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