Endangered piping plover at Presque Isle nests with 3 females; 2 chicks fledge

For the fifth year in a row, the federally endangered piping plover has nested at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, the only site in the state where the sparrow-sized, white-and-tan shorebird nests, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

But this year was a little different.

Piping plovers are known to be monogamous during the breeding season, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The male plover at Presque Isle, however, had other ideas.

This male is the first piping plover to nest in the park in five years, after being absent from the state for more than 60 years. Piping plovers are indicator species of a healthy ecosystem, in addition to their general role in the food chain.

Populations of the small shorebird have been decimated by commercial, residential and recreational developments, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The birds will abandon their nest if there is too much human disturbance. Domestic animals, as well as foxes, gulls and crows, prey on the young plovers or eggs, according to the agency.

What started as a routine season this summer at Presque Isle ended with four nests. Three failed and one partially hatched, according to the Game Commission.

They were all led by the same male bird.

“It was like nothing we have ever seen before,” said Mary Birdsong, the lead monitor for the Erie Bird Observatory. ”It was kind of fascinating but frustrating at the same time.”

The observatory is contracted by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to monitor the birds six days a week from April through August.

The pioneer male piping plover first showed up at Presque Isle in 2016, Birdsong said, but there was no female and no nesting activity. Then a female joined the pioneer male and they had successful breeding seasons in 2017 and 2018, where two and four young birds fledged respectively.

In 2019, one of the sons of the pioneer male (identified by his band) showed up. Father and son courted a female. She picked the son and four young birds fledged, Birdsong said.

Still, the pioneer bird spent the summer of 2019 at Presque Isle without a mate. But in 2020, he paired with a new female and four young birds fledged.

Then this spring, four females showed up, including the one from last year.

“He was already nesting with two other plovers when last year’s female showed up. She eventually left,” Birdsong said.

There were four nests but not at the same time between May and August. The first nest was abandoned by a female; an opossum raided the eggs from a second nest; and the third nest had four eggs, of which three hatched. Two of those chicks survived.

The game commission retrieved some of the eggs from the abandoned nests.

Then the female from the first nest returned and the pioneer male courted her again for a fourth nest, which she abandoned. “Once the fourth nest was abandoned, he was a very good father to those two chicks (from the previous nest),” Birdsong said.

It was a “nail-biter of a season,” said Nicole Ranalli, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pennsylvania field office biologist and Pennsylvania piping plover recovery lead. “A male splitting his time between multiple nests puts each nest in jeopardy.”

But still, there was some nesting success at Presque Isle, which excited environmental officials across the state.

“The inspiring five-year piping plover winning streak is a testament to the power of partnerships, resiliency of nature and hope for the future, especially after the season we’ve had,” said Game Commission biologist Cathy Haffner, who has been involved in Great Lakes piping plover recovery since 2001.

Presque Isle State Park Manager Holly Best said she is happy that the birds choose to nest in a remote part of Presque Isle, which has helped protect them.

It’s an amazing feat of privacy for the endangered shorebirds: Presque Isle receives close to 5 million visitors a year, making it the most visited of the 121 state parks, said Wesley Robinson, DCNR press secretary.

Best said, “We’re fortunate that the location that the birds are using is difficult to get to. It’s a long and tough hike to reach where they are nesting.”

Each year, the park treats invasive plants and removes woody vegetation because the plovers like to nest on open sandy beaches with cobble, Best said.

The park works with the game commission, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the fish and wildlife service and others on the continued safe nesting of the endangered birds.