Despite severe winter storm damage on the beaches, Piping Plovers arrived in Maine right on schedule, starting to arrive in mid March with many in time for the early April snowstorm and solar eclipse. Hardy little birds, the Piping Plovers weathered the storm and started staking out their nesting territories by mid April. Although some of the beaches and nesting habitat were altered, we saw birds choose creative nesting locations and scope out some newer sites this season.
For the past seven breeding seasons, Maine’s Piping Plover numbers have been on the rise, breaking records year after year. After seeing a record high of 157 pairs in 2023, in 2024 we had 143 breeding pairs. Piping Plovers in Maine fledged 237 chicks for a productivity rate of 1.66 chicks per pair which surpasses the state’s recovery goals of 1.5. This is compared to 2023, when plovers fledged 201 chicks for a productivity rate of 1.28, the lowest recorded since 2007. Knowing that our productivity numbers are back on track is reassuring, even with fewer breeding pairs. Many of those fledged chicks will return to beaches and help grow our breeding population for future years.
We had plovers nest at yet another new site this season: Timber Point, Biddeford. The first report came from Susan Kline, Wells Plover Monitor. The nest was unsuccessful but the expansion to new nesting sites over the past two seasons bodes well for the species. Plovers returned to Chebeague and Long Island for their second season, and we had plovers nest both at Hunnewell in Phippsburg and Indian Point in Georgetown for their second consecutive year since 2002.
Three beaches in Scarborough fledged the most chicks since monitoring began: Pine Point with eight, Scarborough Beach State Park with ten, and Western with 27. Over the years, we have seen predator and dog pressures in these areas, but with continued community awareness and rising support, we were able to get a lot of chicks off the ground. Nine beaches along the coast, on average, fledged more than two chicks per pair including Wells, Goose Rocks, Goosefare Brook, Pine Point, Scarborough Beach State Park, the Hook, Popham Beach State Park, Hunnewell, and Indian Point.
The success of the plovers would not be possible without our amazing volunteer coordinators, volunteers, landowners, and government partners. Partnerships with town, state, and federal employees like town managers, state park rangers, US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologists and wardens, town lifeguards, and beach association members have been essential for the growth of the Piping Plover population across the sandy beaches of southern Maine.
Maine’s collaborative successes are increasingly important, as many other states and provinces along the coast have not seen the same plover productivity. With our many partners, hopefully Maine plovers can continue to flourish to help sustain international recovery goals.
