Record Number of Piping Plover Pairs Nesting on Maine Beaches This Season

Maine's piping plovers are having a banner year. The small, sandy-gray shorebirds with bright orange legs have returned to the state's coastline in unprecedented numbers, with Maine Audubon reporting 185 nesting pairs as of late June — surpassing the previous record of 174 pairs set just last year.

The milestone marks the strongest nesting season since conservation efforts began decades ago, reflecting what biologists describe as a remarkable turnaround for a species that once teetered on the edge of disappearing from Maine's beaches entirely.

Laura Minich Zitske, associate director of conservation at Maine Audubon, said the numbers are the result of sustained work by state and federal wildlife agencies, nonprofit organizations, volunteers and private landowners. The birds were reduced to just seven nesting pairs in Maine by 1981, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Their endangered species designation followed in 1986, and populations have steadily climbed since.

This year's season, which runs from April through August, has also produced 207 documented chicks, including 92 that have reached fledging age — meaning they have survived roughly 25 days and learned to fly. The achievement is particularly striking given the vulnerabilities young plovers face before fledging. Unable to fly, the chicks forage across wide stretches of open sand, where they are exposed to predators, storms and accidental disturbance from people and pets.

That vulnerability becomes especially acute during the Fourth of July holiday, when beach traffic swells. Maine Audubon plans to station staff at several beaches over the holiday weekend to answer questions, encourage visitors to watch their step, fill in sand holes and keep dogs leashed near nesting areas.

"We'll have an all-hands-on-deck situation," said Samuel Wells, a coastal bird biologist with Maine Audubon who spends much of the nesting season monitoring birds at Wells Beach, Maine's second-largest plover site after Seawall Beach in Phippsburg.

Wells said the most important part of the job is simply being present. His daily routine involves surveying birds through binoculars, educating visitors and maintaining protective fencing around nesting habitat — areas that, at Wells Beach, also shelter a colony of endangered least terns.

Volunteers form the backbone of those efforts. Roughly 40 plover-monitoring volunteers help watch over nesting areas throughout the season across the state. At Wells Beach, volunteer coordinator Beth Goodwin walks the beach nearly every day during the season, checking access points, clearing debris and talking with visitors about the birds. She has been volunteering for five years.

"More than anything, I hope to be an approachable resource and a strong presence," Goodwin said, gesturing to her neon yellow "monitor" shirt.

Wells noted that because much of the plover recovery takes place on privately owned shoreline, the relationships biologists and volunteers maintain with landowners have been essential to the species' rebound. Volunteers also stay in contact with property owners whose land may host a nest.

Zitske said the geographic memory of the birds — they tend to return to places where they have nested before — helps reinforce each year's gains. Sites that appeared unsuitable for piping plovers a decade ago are now occupied, and the birds continue to establish themselves in new areas.

For Goodwin, the work is about more than census numbers. Chick losses are felt personally by the volunteers and biologists who monitor them day after day, she said.

"We know these numbers, we're here every day," Goodwin explained. "So when we do lose a chick, we feel that loss. It becomes personal, which is why I am so happy to help people understand the importance and presence of these birds in our backyards."

Sharing the beach with the tiny, ancient-looking birds has become one of the most rewarding parts of her volunteer work, she added.

"It's like living next to a dinosaur," Goodwin said. "It's a gift to share the beach with them for these months."