One method used by ornithologists to study birds is banding: placing uniquely numbered leg bands on individual birds. This allows researchers to track their movements, monitor their survival rates, and gain insights into their behavior and migration patterns.
Banded Piping Plovers have provided valuable data that has informed conservation strategies across their range. By tracking the plovers’ movements, biologists can identify critical nesting and stopover sites and address potential threats in these locations. Unfortunately, this can come at a cost, as banding is linked with leg injuries and associated mortality in Atlantic nesting plovers. Interestingly, the Great Lakes and other interior populations of Piping Plovers do not have the same problems, which makes the issue even more complicated. Because of the vulnerability of Atlantic-nesting plovers to band-related injuries and death, banding projects are only approved by authorities when there is a tangible conservation benefit to the population.
Banding initiatives also play a role in engaging the local community in conservation efforts. Residents and visitors alike can contribute by reporting banded bird sightings at http://www.reportband.gov. While there are currently no banding efforts here in Maine because of the risks associated with banding, other states band migrating and wintering Piping Plovers. Luckily for those of us in Maine, four banded Piping Plovers call our beaches home.
Two banded plovers appeared at Western Beach in Scarborough early in the season. L-80, a young male, was banded on August 21, 2022, during a migratory stopover at Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. He was spotted again on Cape Hatteras National Seashore shortly before popping up in Maine this spring. 739, also a young male, was banded on January 15, 2023, on Little St. Simon Island in Georgia. Nests from L-80 and 739 were discovered on April 27 and quickly exclosed. While 739 and his mate fared well, L-80 and his mate faced difficulties. A wily fox keyed in on L-80’s exclosure and attempted to dig underneath. After this attempted predation, L-80 was never seen again on Western or any of the other Maine beaches. His mate was observed one last time trying to incubate their clutch on her own but soon abandoned her efforts. 739 and his mate, on the other hand, successfully fledged two of their four chicks. He stayed with his chicks for the long haul until it was time for the three of them to fly off for migration.
Half Mile Beach at Reid State Park hosted a banded bird for the second breeding season. A50, another male plover, was banded July 31, 2021, as an after-hatch year during migration on Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. A50 and his mate hatched all four of their chicks, but unfortunately, even after a successful 2022 season, they lost their entire brood.
Another male bird, 464, returned to Ogunquit for a fifth consecutive nesting season. He was banded on Cumberland Island, Georgia, on January 10, 2017. Historically, 464 has had nesting success and has fledged a total of five chicks from Ogunquit over the years. This year, two nesting attempts led to no fledged chicks; both attempts were likely predated during hatching. Without any chicks to raise, 464 started his migration early and has already been sighted back on his wintering grounds on Cumberland Island, Georgia.
Photo: Rachel Parent