Piping Plovers are a small sparrow sized bird that is considered endangered due to habitat loss, human disturbance, and predators (cats, dogs, seagulls, raccoons, skunks, etc. ).
There was a total of 81 unique breeding pairs across the Great Lakes region this summer (the most since their Endangered Species Act listing). One more than last year.
No plovers have successfully nested at Montrose Beach in Chicago since 2021. This year, although unsuccessful in securing a mate in 2022 and 2023, the bird named Imani, returned to the place he hatched and found Searocket, a captive-reared chick that was released at Montrose last year in the hopes that she would return to nest there this summer. And the gamble paid off! Imani and Searocket hatched 3 chicks in July.
The city held a naming contest for the chicks and the three winning names were Ferris, because the city had the first ferris wheel in 1893 and for the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, which takes place in Chicago. Another is named Bean, after the iconic sculpture in Millennium Park. The third is the one in the photos with the red leg band and is named El after Chicago's train system.
Thanks to dedicated Conservation Team members and volunteers with the Chicago Piping Plovers, these birds were well-monitored and protected despite the hustle and bustle of an urban beach. Team members wear orange Tshirts and help protect the birds from disturbance, answer questions and educate the public,
My daughter in law visited the beach and was able to get these great shots of newly fledged El.
Piping plovers from the Great Lakes and Northern Plains regions typically winter along the Gulf Coast. They will begin migrating in late summer and everyone will be watching for their return next spring!
