Endangered birds ‘Monty’, ‘Rose’ lay eggs at Chicago Beach: Great Lakes Piping Plovers expand their flock
A pair of endangered birds recently laid eggs on a Chicago beach, specifically at the dunes of Montrose Beach.
According to an ABC7 report, the Chicago Park District announced that said pair of endangered birds, namely Monty and Rose, produced three eggs in their breeding grounds in the Montrose Beach Dunes Natural Area to the north. from Chicago.
The tiny nest is placed in the finely vegetated sand on just over three acres that was added to said Chicago beach last month.
Currently, the park district is working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, or IDNR, and the United States Fish and Wildlife, to protect the nest.
The news clarified that part of protecting the nest includes developing a plan to reopen public access to other parts of the dunes when it is harmless to do so.
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(Photo: Peter Wilton on Wikimedia Commons)
The piping plover is a small shorebird that breeds in the three distinct geographic populations of the United States, including the shores of the Atlantic coast, the Great Plains states, and the shores of the Great Lakes.
Protect rare habitat
When the park district officials arrived, they erected protective fences surrounding the rare habitat to reduce foot traffic as the birds recovered from a long migration and chose a nesting location.
A similar report from the Block Club Chicago said that a metal enclosure was prepared to protect the nest, as well as the eggs from likely predators, such as raccoons and skunks, while leaving enough room for said pair of endangered species can enter and exit freely. from the cage as they take turns incubating their eggs and feeding away from the nest, officials said.
Also according to Park District officials, Rose, the other half of the couple, can expect an extra egg, as four more are the typical clutch size.
This is the third summer together of the Great Lakes Piping Plovers at Chicago Beach after arriving a day apart. Officials yesterday said Monty spent his winter in Texas. Rose, on the other hand, has been spotted in Florida.
This endangered pair of birds had three chicks in 2020 in Montrose and two chicks in 2019, officials said. Essentially, the Great Lakes piping plover population, which was once less than 20 pairs, has recovered, and officials are giving credit to the ministry’s recovery initiatives. To date, there are around 70 breeding pairs.
Piping plover
The piping plover, as described on the US Fish and Wildlife Service website, is a small shorebird that breeds in the three distinct geographic populations of the United States, including the shores of the Atlantic coast, the United States. Great Plains and the shores of the Great Lakes.
Essentially, Michigan’s recovery efforts, aided by many volunteers, have helped the plover population to steadily increase. In 2008, 126 individuals or 63 breeding pairs had been identified.
Of those pairs that nested in Michigan, 10 were found outside the state, including six in Wisconsin and four in Canada.
Meanwhile, a discovered breeding pair has been identified in the Great Lakes region of Canada, representing the first piping plover nest verified in more than three decades. In 2008, several breeding pairs increased to four.
Then, a year later, a couple nested on the shores of Lake Michigan in Illinois, the first nest there in three decades.
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