At first glance, a Snowy Plover will look like just another large
rock on the beach. But on a closer inspection, the rock will turn
out to be a little round bird with an gentle grey back and a tiny smile
on its petite black beak.
The soft plovers sit quietly with their fellow plover friends on sandy West Coast beaches. They are unobtrusive and observant, and they seem to be serious and laidback at the same time. Truly, finding them is a serendipitous moment.
Watching the Snowy Plovers sit and sit and sit in the wind, with their feathers blowing wildly in their face, so blissfully unaware and yet observant of everything, is a life-changing experience. Seriously.
Snowy Plovers are an indicator species-- their populations are indicative of the health of the entire beach ecosystem as a whole.
Many, many years ago, seeing the fluffy cute Snowy Plovers was a familiar sight. But--as with the Piping Plovers, the East
Coast Snowy Plover equivalent-they are in fast decline and need of protection
in most areas throughout their range.
Despite many regulations in place to
protect the plovers, marauding dogs and cats and humans taking over and
claiming beach habitat are destroying the plover population. Unfortunately,
such horror stories of humans destroying plover nests to eat the eggs and placing
their beach chairs on plover nests are not uncommon.
Rampaging humans and their feral pets aren't the only major
problem, if you'll believe it-- Black-crowned Night-herons and Gull populations that have boomed due to changes brought about by humans are also posing a problem!
Do your own part! Inform others about the Snowy and Piping
Plovers and their dangerous predicament (Last year I was pleased to see local elementary school kids petitioning to preserve a local beach for the Snowy Plovers)!
-chiccadee
Recent bird news of note: Endangered Tern Chicks Stomped/Smashedto Death in a Sadistic Act. (Wisconsin)
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