Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a small population which has declined significantly since the 1950s. However, there have been overall population increases since 1991 and the species's population is thought to currently be growing at a slow rate. The population increase is however largely the result of intensive conservation management and thus it is likely that positive trends would reverse again if conservation action were to stop. Due to its high conservation dependence and the risk of future declines following any stochastic event, the species warrants listing as Near Threatened.
Population justification
The latest census data recorded 4,016 (2019) mature individuals on the Atlantic coast, ~3,500 on the northern Great Plains and Prairies (2016), and 147 in the Great Lakes (2014-18) (USFWS 2020; USFWS unpubl. data; B. Andres in litt. 2020); totaling 7,663 breeding individuals. The Great Plains/prairies population is however liable to fluctuations and remains under-surveyed, hence its true total may be greater. Partners in Flight (2019) therefore estimate the total population to number 8,400 mature individuals and as a result, the population is placed here between 7,600-8,400 mature individuals, equivalent to a population of c.11,500-12,500 individuals in total.
Trend justification
The species has been undergoing a large, significant decline over the last five decades, with an estimated annual decline of 1.86% on average (Partners in Flight 2019). This roughly equates to a decrease of 20% over three generations (11.7 years). Audubon Christmas Bird Count shows a similar rate of decline of 2.39% per year (Meehan et al. 2018), equating to 25% over three generations. Short-term trends are inconclusive however, as there are hints that the species has been stable or even locally increasing as a result of conservation management over the last two decades (Elliott-Smith and Haig 2020). The overall population trend is therefore tentatively thought to be increasing. Albeit, it seems that the population increase is largely a result of intensive conservation action and thus it is likely that positive trends could reverse again, if conservation action were to stop.
Charadrius melodus breeds in the U.S.A. and Canada. Regular range-wide breeding censuses are carried out, with the latest census data (2016-2019) suggesting a population of 7,663 mature individuals (USFWS 2020; USFWS unpubl. data; B. Andres in litt. 2020). Populations occur along the Atlantic coast (subspecies melodus), with 4,016 breeding individuals counted in 2019 (USFWS 2004, 2020; Elliott-Smith et al. 2009); in the Great Plains (subspecies circumcinctus), numbering ~3,500 breeders in 2016 (Ferland and Haig 2001; Elliott-Smith et al. 2009; B. Andres in litt. 2020), and in the Great Lakes region (also circumcinctus), with an average of 147 breeding birds counted between 2014-2018 (Stucker 2004; Elliott-Smith et al. 2009; Miller et al. 2010; USFWS unpubl. data).
Totals in 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2016-2019 respectively were 1,892, 2,581, 2,920, 3,320 and 4,016 (in 2019) breeding birds on the Atlantic coast, 32, 48, 72, 110 and 147 (in 2018) in the Great Lakes and 2,744, 3,284, 2,953, 4,662 and ~3,500 (in 2016) in the Prairie Canada / U.S. northern Great Plains population (Elliot-Smith et al. 2009; USFWS 2020; USFWS unpubl. data; B. Andres in litt. 2020). The recent, apparent decline in the prairies/Great Plains largely reflects the population's fluctuating nature in response to wet-dry cycles and a lack of surveyed sites leaving individuals unrecorded; numbers in this population are similar to the average of the past five surveys (3,320 plovers, 1991–2011), hence it is considered stable. Overall populations increased by ~70% between 1991 and 2011 and despite local fluctuations and a recent slowdown in the rate of increase, populations are considered to be stable or in a slow increase. However, it must be noted that these increases are the result of sustained management initiatives, upon which populations remain heavily dependent.
Small numbers also nest on St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) (P. Wood in litt. 1999). Less than 60% of birds are recorded in winter (Brush 1995; USFWS 1996b; Plissner and Haig 1997; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999), mainly from the Carolinas, U.S.A., to Tamaulipas (and patchily Yucatán), Mexico; the Bahamas (which supports over one-third of the melodus wintering population [Gratto-Trevor et al. 2016]); Cuba, and Turks and Caicos Islands (to U.K.) (G. Hilton in litt. 2000), but also from Barbados, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Bermuda (to U.K.), Jamaica, Puerto Rico (to U.S.A.), Virgin Islands (to U.K.), Virgin Islands (to U.S.A) and St Kitts and Nevis (Plissner and Haig 1997; P. R. Blanco in litt. 1999; J. Wilson in litt. 1999; P. Wood in litt. 1999; Gratto-Trevor et al. 2012; Elliot-Smith and Haig 2020). Small numbers in Sonora, north-west Mexico, may represent regular winterers (J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999).
It nests on sandy beaches, sandflats, barrier islands, alkaline lakes, riverine sand / gravel bars, reservoirs, sand / gravel pits and inland along rivers and wetlands (USFWS 1996b; Plissner and Haig 1997; Elliot-Smith and Haig 2020). Ephemeral pools, bay tidal flats and areas of open vegetation are all important brood-rearing habitats (Elias et al. 2000). There is high winter site fidelity (USFWS 1996b; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999) in sandy bays, lagoons, and algal flats / mudflats (Brush 1995; Plissner and Haig 1997), particularly around sheltered inlets (Cohen et al. 2008). The species has recently been witnessed foraging among the roots of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) and black mangrove (Avicennia germinans), and on rocky shores on Andros Island, as well as the Bahamas during the winter (Johnson et al. 2018). The small Great Lakes population is also thought to exhibit a small male-biased adult sex ratio due to differential survival in the pre-fledging period (Saunders and Cuthbert 2015). It feeds primarily on small arthropods, particularly beetles such as Bledius opaculus (Majka and Shaffer 2008).
Drought, inappropriate water and beach management, gas / oil industry dredging operations, development, shoreline stabilisation and beach recreation and disturbance (including cat and dog predation, and possibly that from native avian species and ghost crabs [Kwon et al. 2018]) are key threats (Hecht 1995; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999; Elias et al. 2000; Boettcher et al. 2007; Jorgensen and Bomberger Brown 2014; DeRose-Wilson et al. 2018; Gibson et al. 2018). Leg related injuries, reducing fitness, have been recorded in birds fitted with anodised aluminium rings (Amirault et al. 2006). Coastal flooding driven by climate change has been noted to cause reduced reproductive success in Virginia, and its importance is likely to increase (Boettcher et al. 2007). The effects of sea level rise and enhanced coastal flooding, particularly from extreme events such as hurricanes (Saunders et al. 2014), are likely to reduce available Piping Plover habitat as habitat migration is widely constrained by human development alongside wetland environments (Seavey et al. 2011). Furthermore, a proliferation of proposals for single-turbine wind projects on beaches along the USA's Atlantic coast, where plovers nest, presents a further, increasing threat to the species (Stantial and Cohen 2018). Expanding Merlin populations, a primary predator of the Piping Plover, in the Great Lakes region are also thought to be a significant threat to the species's population viability and by incorporating an index of Merlin abundance, the quasi-extinction probability (less than or equal to 15 breeding pairs remaining) is now estimated as ~12% over a 10-year period (Saunders et al. 2014, 2018).
Conservation Actions Underway
CMS Appendix II. There were censuses in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006 (Plissner and Haig 1997; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999) and censuses have continued since. It is considered Endangered in U.S.A. and Canada. There is a recovery plan for Atlantic coast breeders (USFWS 1996b; A. Hecht in litt. 1999). The Novia Scotia Piping Plover Conservation Program uses monitoring and site protection to aid species recovery in Nova Scotia, Canada (Abbott 2008). Predator management has increased hatching success (D. Amirault in litt. 1999; A. Hecht in litt. 1999). Seasonal restrictions and public education have limited disturbance (Hecht 1995; A. Hecht in litt. 1999). Measures to protect breeding and wintering beaches are having mixed results; $3 million per year is being spent in Atlantic U.S.A. alone on numerous management measures (nest exclosures, beach stewards etc. [B. Andres in litt. 2020]), and this will need to be kept up indefinitely. Nature Canada filed a lawsuit in 2006 against the Canadian Environment Ministry for failing to take necessary measures under the Species at Risk Act, which resulted in a revised recovery plan with critical habitat identified. The Great Lakes population is supplemented by captively bred individuals (Roche et al. 2008), and also utilises nest exclosures and beach stewards (S. Saunders in litt. 2020). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed 255 ha of sandbar habitat on the Missouri River, USA, between 2004 to 2009 however, whilst exhibiting some success, it was shown to exhibit considerably lower nest success, pre-fledging chick survival and hatch-year survival than sandbar habitat created through natural flood processes (Hunt et al. 2018). Effective habitat creation should however, be viewed as an essential action in increasing Piping Plover populations as Robinson et al. (2019) observed that populations appear to be at carrying-capacity and are habitat limited, yet expanded significantly following increases in natural habitat availability. The Platte River Recovery Implementation Program (PRRIP) and its partners have invested considerable resources in generating and managing off-channel nesting habitat for Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) along the central Platte River in Nebraska; measures implemented to increase nest and brood survival at nesting sites include: tree removal, water barrier construction around nesting areas, predator fence installation, and predator trapping (Farrell et al. 2018). Both nest success and brood success were recorded at 75% in this area, thus it is concluded that such habitat management techniques are sufficient in maintaining high levels of productivity in Piping Plover populations along the central Platte River (Farrell et al. 2018). Furthermore, following the discovery of a large wintering population of Piping Plovers in Joulter Cays, Bahamas, the Bahamian government included the area when designating an additional 113,920 acres of protected land in September 2015 (Saha 2015).
Conservation Actions Proposed
Determine the importance of north-west Mexico for wintering birds. Continue breeding and wintering censuses (A. Hecht in litt. 1999). Develop action plans for Great Lakes and wintering birds (A. Hecht in litt. 1999; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999). Protect breeding and wintering beaches, and expand existing measures (D. Amirault in litt. 1999; A. Hecht in litt. 1999; J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999). Create sand-flats near to roosting sites on its wintering grounds, to mitigate against habitat loss (Cohen et al. 2008). Assess the relative effects of different predators on plover populations, and the effectiveness of predator and disturbance management measures (Boettcher et al. 2007). Study causes of nest abandonment, aiming to reduce its occurrence (Maslo and Lockwood 2009). Manage water sympathetically on the Great Plains (J. H. Plissner in litt. 1999). Designate the Laguna Madre de Tamaulipas as a protected area.
18 cm. Very pale, orange-legged plover. Pale grey upperparts, whitish underparts, breeding birds with black neck and breast-band, white forehead bordered by black bar across forecrown, white postocular supercilium, orange orbital ring and short, stubby orange bill tipped black. Non-breeding birds lack black neck, breast and forehead-bands, and bill is all black. Shows white rump in flight. Similar spp. Snowy Plover C. alexandrinus is smaller with blackish legs and thinner bill. Voice Plaintive whistle peep or descending peep-lo.
Text account compilers
Hermes, C., Everest, J.
Contributors
Amirault, D., Andres, B.A., Benstead, P., Bird, J., Blanco, R.P., Harding, M., Hecht, A., Hilton, G., Isherwood, I., Khwaja, N., Plissner, J.H., Saunders, S., Wege, D., Wilson, J. & Wood, P.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Piping Plover Charadrius melodus. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/piping-plover-charadrius-melodus on 24/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 24/11/2024.