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Photo courtesy of Jack Cook
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)Great Lakes Population
![]() Notice the leg bands on this female piping plover. Information on migration, mortality rates and range expansion are just some of what researchers learn from banding. Photo by USFWS; Vince Cavelieri
Great Lakes Population of Piping Plover
Status: Endangered, listed December 11, 1985
Habitat: Beaches along shorelines of the Great Lakes
Lead Region: 3
Region 3 Lead Office: East Lansing, Michigan Field Office
Summer Range: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
Piping Plover Critical Habitat for the Great Lakes Population Breeding Habitat: Designated May 7, 2001 in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin
Comprehensive Conservation Strategyfor the Piping Plover in its Coastal Migration and Wintering Range in the Continental United States(Dec. 2012) The Comprehensive Conservation Strategy synthesizes conservation needs across the shared coastal migration and wintering ranges of the three federally-listed piping plover populations.
![]() Photo by Sidney Maddock Comprehensive Conservation Strategy (appendices not included) 125-page PDF; 1MB
Appendix 1 89-page PDF; 791KB
Appendix 2 17-page PDF; 980KB
Appendix 3 7-page PDF; 69KB
Piping Plover Images on FlickrCheck out the Field Journals!
The piping plover is a small shorebird that nests in the three separate geographic populations in the U.S.: the Great Plains states, the shores of the Great Lakes, and the shores of the Atlantic coast. Birds from all populations winter on the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the U.S. This website features the Great Lakes population, which is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.
Recovery actions in Michigan, aided by many volunteers, has helped the plover population to steadily increase. In 2008, there were 63 breeding pairs (126 individuals). Of these, 53 pairs nested in Michigan, while 10 were found outside the state, including six pairs in Wisconsin and four in Ontario, Canada. A single breeding pair discovered in 2007 in the Great Lakes region of Canada represented the first confirmed piping plover nest there in over 30 years, and in 2008 the number of nesting pairs further increased to four. In 2009, a pair nested on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois, the first nest in Illinois in 30 years. Listen to a podcast!Jack Dingledine, the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Coordinator talks about the piping plover's conservation story.
Piping Plover Conservation VideoVolunteers Needed!Help protect and monitor piping plover nests.
About Piping Plovers:
Piping Plover Conservation and Management
USFWS
Piping Plover Fact sheet
USFWS East Lansing Michigan Field Office Piping Plover Home
USFWS Chicago Field Office's Piping Plover Spotlight
Piping Plover (Great Lakes) Population Status
Piping Plover Conservation and RecoverySeptember 22, 2009: 5-Year Review (206-page 1MB PDF)
September 2, 2009: Strong Partnership Benefits Wisconsin Piping Plovers
August 11, 2009 - Endangered Piping Plover Chicks Make History. Three chicks are from first Illinois nest in 30 years.
2006 S6 Grant Project - Great Lakes Shoreline Project 2006 Habitat Conservation Planning Land Acquisition Grant: Point Betsie Piping Plover HCP (Benzie County, MI) Section 6 Grant: Determination of the status of Piping Plovers, Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid, Prairie Bush Clover, Fassett's Locoweed, and implement recovery management for Karner Blue Butterfly and Fassett's Locoweed (Wisconsin)
Piping Plover (Great Lakes Population) Recovery Plan
Piping Plover Critical Habitat:Great Lakes Breeding Population Critical Habitat - Final Decision
Links to Information about Other Piping Plover Populations:Atlantic Coast Breeding Population
Northern Great Plains Breeding Population
Missouri River News and Information
Midwest Endangered Species Home
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Last updated:
August 9, 2016
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