Breeding Adult Plover Numbers Bounce Back at Point Reyes

Newly banded plover chicks on a Point Reyes beach. Chick survival has been low so far this year. Of the 15 chicks that have hatched, ten have been lost, three are still on the beach, and only two have fledged. NPS / Matt Lau

June 2020 - Every year from March until September biologists keep tabs on the threatened western snowy plovers that breed on beaches in Point Reyes National Seashore. Last year was a relatively slow one. It featured the smallest breeding population and the fewest nests counted since 2013. This year has already been much more active, and the season is still far from over.

Although COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies triggered a pause in snowy plover surveys just two weeks after they began, biologists were cleared to resume limited monitoring starting in mid-April. A few weeks later, surveys resumed in full. As biologists hoped, but did not quite expect, the breeding population bounced back in a big way, from 19 adult plovers last year to 39 this year. In addition, the 35 nests counted last season have already nearly been matched. As of June 28, biologists counted 34 nests on Point Reyes beaches. Nineteen of those have been found on one stretch of beach between Abbotts Lagoon and the North Beach parking lot. Most of the other nests were spotted on Kehoe Beach, Limantour Beach, North Beach, and South Beach. The two nests on South Beach are the first biologists have found there since the 1980s!

Nest success this season has been about average, with depredation by common ravens being the most common cause of nest failure. Twenty nests have failed, seven have hatched, and plover parents are currently incubating eggs on the other seven. For the hatched nests, chick survival has been low. Of the 15 hatched chicks, ten have been lost, three are still on the beach, and only two have fledged.

What will the rest of the season bring? There is only one way to find out. Stay tuned!

For more information

2020 Western Snowy Plover Updates

San Francisco Bay Area Network Western Snowy Plover Monitoring webpage

Point Reyes National Seashore Snowy Plovers at Point Reyes webpage

Pacific Coast Science and Learning Center Western Snowy Plovers webpage

Contact Snowy Plover Ecologist Matt Lau

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