A banded Great Lakes Piping Plover that can be identified as an individual was photographed at Cat Island in Green Bay, Wisconsin by Logan Lasee.

Bird banding has been an important part of information gathering about birds for more than a century, and today researchers in the Great Lakes region are using lightweight, uniquely coded leg bands to learn about aspects of Piping Plover’s individual behavior. Biologists are studying nesting success, movements and migrations, lifespan and survival rates, and more – information that would be impossible to collect otherwise considering the complexities and vastness of the natural world. It’s a great example of the power of using color-coded bands that are more visible.

Today, the Great Lakes Piping Plover population has rebounded to about 80 nesting pairs, but they remain at risk from habitat loss, recreational disturbance, and climate change. Once somewhat common on some Great Lakes beaches, Piping Plovers nearly disappeared by the mid-1980s, when only 12 pairs were known to nest in the vast region. In response, they were listed as federally endangered in 1986, and a passionate team of biologists, land managers, and volunteers launched an intensive species recovery effort.

That recovery effort was coordinated by the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team and centered on several core strategies: Protecting nesting habitat, monitoring nest sites, fencing around nests to protect them from predators and human disturbance, educating beachgoers about Piping Plovers and other beach nesting birds; and, especially, banding every Piping Plover hatchling possible in the region.

Each year, newly hatched Great Lakes Piping Plover chicks are fitted with a brood-specific combination of colored plastic leg bands (and a federal aluminum bird band) that allows researchers to identify where and when each plover hatched. When a Piping Plover returns to a Great Lakes beach to nest, it is fitted with a unique colored band combination to identify it an individual for the rest of its life.

Banding Great Lakes Piping Plovers has revealed important and interesting information about this population, and about Piping Plovers as a species:

Longevity: Piping Plovers live an average of about 7 years, however, it is not uncommon for individuals to live more than 10 years. In fact, the oldest living Piping Plover is 16 years old and recently returned to her nesting location in Michigan where it is hoped she will raise a few more fledglings to add to her total of 35 to date!

Mate & Site Fidelity: Most adults reunite with the same mate and nest at or near the same site each summer, which strengthens local population stability.

Wintering Locations & Migration Timing: Great Lakes Piping Plovers usually migrate fairly quickly to wintering areas in the southeast United States, mostly to locations along the Atlantic coastline in the Carolinas and Georgia. Thanks to bird photographers and plovers’ unique leg band combinations, biologists have a record of an individual plover who was photographed in Michigan the morning of July 22nd, and photographed again near Miami the morning of July 24th, which indicates that she completed her fall migration of more than 1,300 miles in less than 48 hours!

Population Structure: Banding has confirmed that the Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Atlantic Coast nesting populations are demographically distinct, which is critical information for targeted conservation efforts.

Unexpected Movements: Individual Piping Plovers have made surprise detours, being spotted by beachgoers in new and astonishing nesting locations (like downtown Chicago), and they have even weathered hurricanes. Each re-sighting and band report has added more information to the species’ life history, while accenting individual variations.

You Can Help by “sharing the shore” – keeping dogs leashed, avoiding posted nesting areas, and educating others about Piping Plovers and other birds that nest on beaches, sandbars, and island shores.

Audubon Great Lakes coordinates staff, partners, and volunteers to monitor Piping Plovers at the Cat Island Restoration Site & Long Point in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Working closely with the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and several other partners, plover monitors are working to protect Great Lakes Piping Plover nesting activities every day from April to August.

Monitoring during this time period provides important data about Piping Plover movements and nesting success, including the birds’ arrival dates, when and where they establish territories, mating, egg-laying, incubation, the hatchling period, fledging dates, the post-fledging period, and departure dates.

To learn more about the Great Lakes Piping Plover population and how you can help, refer to greatlakespipingplover.org. To report an observation of a banded Piping Plover, email plover@umn.edu. This article was based on the original Audubon article published at Bling That Tells a Story of Resilience in the Great Lakes | Audubon