Piping plover chick being banded at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Photo by Joel Trick

At least five pairs of piping plovers nested in Wisconsin in 2007, all occurring on the shores of Lake Superior in and near the Apostle Island National Lakeshore.  The five nesting pairs produced at least 11 young, 5 of which were banded by University of Minnesota researchers.  The Fish and Wildlife Service’s Green Bay Field Office, the National Park Service, the Wisconsin DNR, and Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians worked together to protect the nesting plovers by hiring a plover monitor to spot nesting pairs, developing plover signs to let beachgoers avoid disturbing the nests, and putting up nest exclosures to protect the nests from predators.

Having a full-time biologist on location during the nesting season to find and monitor the nests paid great dividends in this season’s nesting success.  The plover monitor was funded by the Fish and Wildlife Service, hired by the Wisconsin DNR, and located with the National Park staff.  In a good example of cross-program coordination, the Ashland Fisheries Resource Office assisted by providing crucial boat transportation to get the plover monitor out to the remote nesting areas.  Plans are already being formulated for the 2008 nesting season, when the Wisconsin DNR has committed to using Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Act Section 6 funds to hire another dedicated piping plover monitor. 

The success of piping plover protection efforts in Michigan has resulted in an increasing population that is moving into available habitat in Wisconsin.  In an interesting side note, one bird nesting in Michigan this year was determined to have been hatched at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in 2005, making it the first documented instance of Wisconsin-produced birds returning to Michigan to breed.  The additional young produced in Wisconsin this year bodes well for the continued expansion of this population, and further progress towards recovery of the species.

Continued strong partnerships forged between State, federal, Tribal and NGO partners will remain critical to the success of piping plover protection efforts in Wisconsin.