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The Snowy Plover ChroniclesEvery year, a new spring arrives. At Pajaro, volunteers spend several months helping a little creature – the Western Snowy Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus. The Snowy Plover, weighing between 1 to 2 ounces, is on the Federal Endangered Species List primarily because it has lost vast areas of its habitat due to human intrusion. Volunteers all along the West Coast participate in a program to assist the Snowy Plover in surviving and regaining its population. Over the next few months, the Friends of Pajaro Dunes will maintain a weekly log of activities and progress of the Snowy Plover on beaches at and around the Last Mile. |
Log Entry, May 10
Early on Friday April 30, while no human was watching, a set of three chicks hatched at ps001 (Pajaro Spit Nest 001). It is known that the hatching process can take between four and forty eight hours. Once the first chick is hatched, it remains near the nest until the other eggs are hatched. One of the adult plovers broods, or sits on to keep warm, the chick while the other eggs hatch. Within a few hours after all hatch, Mom and Dad prod the newborn chicks away from the nest, lead them to feeding areas, and begin to teach them how to forage for food. Unlike many other bird species, Snowy Plover chicks are not nest-fed by their parents but are taught to fend for themselves.
Soon after Snowy Plover chicks are born at Pajaro Dunes, the volunteer staff bands each chick to help track them during their lifetime. Ricky Warriner was helped by Ryan DiGaudio of PRBO to band the ps001 chicks. Banding must be done within a few hours as Plover chicks quickly become too difficult to catch. Ricky and Ryan found the new family late Friday morning, 10 feet away from the nest. Four lightweight color bands, two on each leg, are fitted on each chick. One is these bands is an aluminum US Fish & Wildlife Service numbered band. The numbers are kept in a permanent record by the service at the Banding Lab in Laurel MD. This unique identification is recorded and the bird is tracked wherever it travels.
Once the Snowy Plover family leaves the nest they no longer return. The Male Plover takes over the rearing duties and leads the chicks around the spit to forage. By mid this week, the five day old chicks were seen about 500 feet away from their nest foraging along the river. The first six days of the chick's life are the most difficult as they are not fast enough to avoid predators. Dad, and sometimes Mom, will have to defend them from predators. Mom will soon be off to find a new mate and repeat the process. Until the chicks fledge -- reach flying age, plover chicks are very dependent on Dad to keep warm, help find food, and be watchful for predators.
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Photos by Jack Haverty - www.3kitty.org |
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Our two nesting areas continue to thrive. We have 3 nests with 8 chicks that have hatched, 18 active nests with 50 eggs. Let's hope the blustery conditions of Sunday evening had minimal effects on our families. The table below is keeping score. Once a nest has hatched, it is no longer considered active.
