Piping Plover

Charades melodies

By Punlieu

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordate
Class: Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:charadiidae
Genus:Charadrius
Species:melodus

Physical Description

The piping plover is a small, stocky, sandy colored bird resembling a sandpiper. The adult has yellow orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the base of its neck. Like other plovers, it runs in short starts and stops. When still, the piping plover blends into the pale background of open, sandy habitat on outer beaches where it feeds and nests. The bird's name derives from its call notes, plaintive bell like whistles which are often heard before the birds are seen.

Diet and Feeding Habits

Piping plover feed on little aquatic invertabrates. They also feed on fly larva and small insects.

Reproduction

Piping plovers return to their breeding grounds in late March or early April. Following establishment of nesting territories and courtship rituals, the pair forms a depression in the sand somewhere on the high beach close to the dunes. The nest is sometimes lined with small stones or fragments of shell.

Habitat

Piping plovers could be found in areas such as North Carolina, Qubec. They also live on sandy beach areas. Piping plover also can be found in sand dunes.

Role in the Ecosystem

Piping plovers were common along the Atlantic Coast during much of the 19th century, but nearly disappeared due to excessive hunting for the millinery trade. Following passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918, numbers recovered to a 20th Century peak which occurred during the 1940s. The current population decline is attributed to increased development and recreational use of beaches since the end of World War II. The most recent surveys place the Atlantic population at less than 1800 pairs.

Bibliography

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/pipingplover.htm