Nature Canada

Piping Plover Chicks Leave Nest at Sauble Beach

Piping Plover_adult female_Sauble Beach_Brendan Toews

Piping Plover by Brendan Toews

In their latest update on the Piping Plover population at Sauble Beach, Ontario, Kim and Brendan Toews check in on one family of Plovers.

21 July, 2012  – South Nest Field NotesThe adult female left the brood leaving the male to complete brood rearing until the family disperses. Females frequently, but not always, abandon their broods to be cared for by their mate.Evidence of nest failure, such as the carcass of a dead chick or fox prints in the sand around a nest site, disappears very quickly in a beach environment. Five chicks were lost over the course of the season, a total of three chicks fledged from the south nest.

This evening, we observed the adult male and three banded chicks foraging along the shoreline just outside the perimeter fencing. The chicks were highly mobile, but have not moved far from their nesting site. During this time of year, the south end beach area is very crowded and the plovers mostly stay within the safety of the perimeter fencing during the day where they feed and rest in this section of closed beach. When the beach empties of beachgoers in the evening, the birds leave the security of the fenced off area to feed on aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates which they capture with their short bills by alternately running and pecking or probing along the lake shore.

At around 20-25 days of age, the three young plovers took their first short flights and are now able to maintain flight.

Hopefully the number of nesting Piping Plovers will increase in Ontario during the next breeding season!

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