- The Great Lakes piping plover population reached a record 99 breeding pairs in 2026, up from roughly a dozen pairs in the late 1980s.
- A record 184 chicks fledged this season, marking the fifth consecutive record-breaking breeding season for the endangered shorebird.
- Despite progress, piping plovers remain threatened by shrinking beach habitat, predators, human activity, climate change, and delays in hiring seasonal conservation staff.
Birders around Michigan will know that the Great Lakes piping plover is a very special, rare, and adorable shorebird. More broadly, for anyone who enjoys the beaches of the Great Lakes, you may know that DNR and National Park rangers close off some sections of beachfront every summer. The reason is to make more space for nesting pairs. The plover is critically endangered.
There's great news this year for the plover and its fans. The piping plover had a banner year for nesting and reproduction. Stateside’s April Baer talked with Doctor Sarah Sanders, who is a data analyst with the Audubon Society. Saunders lives in Michigan and she focuses on birds in our area in the Great Lakes region.
The following is a transcript of the interview that has been lightly edited.
AB: Hey, before we talk about the numbers for this year, can you give us a little context for how bad things have been historically speaking, for piping plovers?
SS: Yeah, so the Great Lakes population was listed as federally endangered in 1986. And at that time, in the late 80s, there were about a dozen pairs remaining in the entire region, and they were mostly concentrated in northern Michigan at just a few sites. So it was quite dire at the time when the recovery efforts really started. And those were led mostly by Doctor Francis Cuthbert. She was out of the University of Minnesota, since retired, but is still the matron of Great Lakes piping plover recovery.
AB: Well, where do things stand today in 2026?
SS: So this was our fifth record breaking breeding season. And that meant that we broke two records. So first, now we have 99 breeding pairs. So again, starting from back to a dozen in the late 1980s, up to 99 now. And then we also had a record number of chicks fledge with 184 chicks. So the season was very successful all around.
AB: Are there any special bachelors out there that aren't included in the population that you just quoted us?
SS: We do have a few single birds that kind of float around throughout the breeding season if they are unable to find a mate. But for the most part, a lot of our individuals are paired up and that is almost two-thirds to the recovery goal that is set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as 150 breeding pairs, 50 of which should be outside of Michigan.
Where piping plovers call home
AB: Where are the largest populations of piping plovers found on the Great Lakes? I mean, I know that they can be found in dune-like environments in a lot of places.
SS: Yeah, so the biggest nesting location is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. And they're nesting on the mainland there at Sleeping Bear Dunes, but also on the islands. So North Manitou Island, we have quite a few breeding pairs there. And then occasionally in South Manitou Island.
AB: What is it about the dune habitats that plovers like so much?
SS: They nest right in the sand there. So they need this open dune habitat, preferably with a little bit of cobble, is what we call it. So just kind of pebbles and rocks, and they'll line that little scrape in the sand with those little pebbles and lay four eggs in directly in the sand. So they're ground nesters and they prefer to have this kind of wide open beaches with trees kind of far away because they have avian predators that are perching in the trees. And so they don't want to be nesting too close to the tree line. So they really need these expansive dune habitat.
AB: I understand that part of plovers decline has been because of the fact that people like beaches, and also they bring their dogs to beaches, and there's development of beaches. But that aside, I've always been a little amazed that the plover evolved to be this dune dweller. It seems like it's a pretty exposed environment, but I think I'm hearing you say that being closer to the trees would be even more hazardous for them.
SS: Yes. Yeah. So they're essentially kind of in the sweet spot there on the beach, where they have to be far enough away from the tree line that they're away from predators, but obviously far enough away from the lake so that their nests don't get inundated by storms and washouts that are coming from the lake. So it's this very kind of narrow strip that they have available for nesting. And there's factors that contribute to that kind of squeeze that's happening. So with climate change and we have lake levels rising, then they're getting squeezed on one side. And then when we have vegetation encroachment on the other side, they're kind of getting squeezed into this like a little bit narrower and narrower beach range. And so that's contributing to the threat there.
AB: Sarah, are the pebbles part of the disguise for the eggs?
SS: They're still kind of questions as to why they line their scrape with pebbles. They could contribute to camouflage, yes, but also perhaps thermoregulation to help kind of control the temperature right within the scrape.
AB: So the eggs must be really tiny.
SS: The eggs are very tiny. They lay a clutch of four eggs and both the male and female incubate the nest. So they take turns. And it's really sweet to, to kind of watch them call to each other and to do their incubation switches. And then one of them sits on the nest for a couple hours, and then the other one goes off to forage and then they switch. So as part of our recovery efforts, it's actually really important to make sure that both adults are present because if one of them goes missing, then that other adult can't both forage for themselves and incubate the eggs. So that's why we have the salvage captive rearing program as part of our recovery efforts. And we take in those eggs. If one of the adults goes missing and we kept watch over them and released them at the end of the season. So it gives those eggs a second chance.
How the plovers are protected
AB: Plovers are quick. I don't think I could keep up with one of them to catch it.
SS: Yeah. The adults we we catch on the nest. So we use a trap and they'll walk into the trap during that incubation period. They're really tied to the nest, but the chicks are very quick and because they're precocial, so they can get up and run around within hours of hatching. It makes our job a little bit more challenging to band the chicks. So we have a well-honed strategy after several decades of banding now, where we kind of take several people and we surround them from the dunes and we kind of work our way slowly towards the lake and push them towards the lake. They won't go in the lake if they don't have to. Just because they're downy and so they won't be able to dry very quickly. And so we have these really soft nets. As we get close, we'll just drop the nets on the chicks and, and band them all at once and then let them go. But yeah, you have to be very careful when you're getting close and they're just darting in and out.
AB: How would you describe these, these little shore babies? I've heard them. I've heard them described as like a cotton ball on toothpicks.
SS: I think I actually said that line while I was a graduate student during some interview, and it just stuck. And so don't like coin that for me, but that is definitely kind of my trademark way of describing the chicks. So, so cute.
How funding cuts impact piping plovers
AB: Sarah, there were some concerns that we talked about on this show when cuts were made to funding for national parks in the Forest Service, that this might impede conservationists ability to do their work. Do you think there were differences in how the birds were managed this year over some prior years?
SS: I think, this year, it was a little bit better than the two years prior, but we still had some delays in hiring our seasonal staff that are those monitors, especially at state parks and Sleeping Bear, which is the National Lakeshore, and the National Park Service. And so those delays are actually really critical because plovers are back to Great Lakes beaches in April, and they're setting up territories as early as early April, mid-April. And potentially, there's eggs on the ground by end of April. And so if we don't have staff out there finding those nests and putting those exclosure cages that we put on the nests to protect them then we're missing those early nests. And my research in the past has demonstrated those early nests are the most successful in those chicks are the most likely to survive their first year. So if we don't have the staff out there on the ground finding those nests and protecting them early, then we're missing out on kind of a big contribution, potential contribution to the population.
AB: Does anyone know why those early nesters tend to be so prolific?
SS: Those early nesters are more likely to produce chicks that survive. And so it has a lot to do with the timing and the breeding season. So if you are nesting earlier and you produce your chicks earlier and they can grow to fledge. So that's their ability to fly. And they cannot fly until about 23 days old. Then you can get them kind of off the ground, so to speak, and flying before a lot of their predators are giving birth and having their own babies to feed, and potentially feeding on plovers to feed their babies. So that timing, kind of that mismatch that happens is important so that they can actually be successful before predators peak. But then if they fail their nest and then they nest, those chicks are hatching, right when those predator communities are peaking. And so there's less likely to survive to fledge.
Piping plovers' off-season plans
AB: So where are the plovers headed this season? Can you tell us about where they overwinter.
SS: So the Great Lakes population, most of our individuals are overwintering on the Atlantic coast and the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. And we have a few individuals that kind of show up on the Gulf Coast as well. But the majority are Atlantic and then even into the Caribbean. But we have a very dedicated base of volunteers that are down on the wintering grounds. You know, we're snowbirds too, and a lot of Michiganders kind of go down there for the winter, and they love being able to go to back to those same spots and photograph them. And then because they're all individually banded, we get those sightings and can identify our individuals to their locations. And they're very site faithful as well. So the same birds will tend to overwinter in those same locations year after year, just like they kind of come back to their same nesting locations up here.
AB: Sarah, it's been a long road to get to the plovers, to the point where we've had year after year of record-breaking numbers. Are you feeling optimistic that we'll be able to keep growing the plover population and help them, help them stick it out?
SS: It is definitely an encouraging sign that we've had so many consecutive successful years. And I think, especially when we're talking about having years with record breaking number of fledglings, and that means more individuals, probably returning the following year and then nesting as adults for the first time and then further growing the population. So I think this past year in particular, with the kind of double whammy success of fledglings and pair counts is really a promising sign for kind of that boosted extra growth that we're hoping to see in the next like 5 to 10 years.
AB: My guest today has been Professor Sarah Saunders. She's a data analyst with the Audubon Society, who lives in Michigan and specializes in Great Lakes bird species. Sarah, thank you so much.
SS: Thank you. April, thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun.
