PIPING PLOVERS: BAHAMAS RARE WINTER RESIDENTS

September 17, 2020 by Rolling Harbour

PIPING PLOVERS: BAHAMAS RARE WINTER RESIDENTS

‘ON A BEACH NEAR YOU’

PIPING PLOVERS Charadrius melodus are specialist shorebirds in the Bahamas, and on Abaco in particular. For a start, they are very rare – the IUCN listing suggests a population of only 8000 mature birds in the world. They are both scarce numerically and limited geographically.

September is the month when shorebirds get good publicity. World Shorebirds Day, Plover Appreciation Day, Migratory Birds Celebration Day, Ruddy Turnstone Tuesday and the like. Piping plovers are my particular pigeon, so I’m posting a revised article about them and their close migratory relationship with the Bahamas.

These tiny plovers breed only in a few defined areas of North America – areas that are rapidly reducing mostly for all the usual depressing human-derived causes, for example the exercise of man’s alienable right from time immemorial to drive vehicles all over the nesting sites in the breeding season. The birds are unsurprisingly IUCN listed as ‘near-threatened’.

Piping Plovers breed and nest in the north and produce their chicks. The chicks soon learn to be independent and to fly. From about mid-July, those adults and chicks that have avoided the wheels of the SUVs, the unleashed dogs in the areas set aside for nesting, and the more natural dangers from gulls and their friends, start to get the urge to fly south for the winter. The range of their winter grounds is shown in blue on the range map above.

Q. WHY ARE THEY CALLED PIPING PLOVERS? A. BECAUSE OF THIS!

Paul Turgeon

I will return at some stage to the significance of the safe, clean beaches of Abaco and the healthy habitat for the survival of this remarkable little bird. For now, I’ll simply say that loss of habitat, and an increase in the nature and / or extent of environmental threats at either end of the migration, may seriously damage the survival of the species. It follows that habitat degradation at both ends of the migration could see the IUCN listing progress rapidly to vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered and… well, the next category is ‘extinct in the wild’.

If you are interested in shorebirds, in bird migration, in research into bird movements, and in the reason migratory birds are banded, you can find out more at ABACO PIPING PLOVER WATCH.This is the only season-long PIPL research project in the Bahamas, and involves Citizen Scientists on Abaco in the south working with partner Proper Scientists (in particular Conserve Wildlife Foundation New Jersey) in the breeding grounds in the north (see note below re the end of this 5-year project).

The photographs in this post were taken in January 2020 on the long crescent of beach at Winding Bay, Abaco by Lisa Davies. Her contribution is precious because the APPW project mentioned above was for many reasons in danger of stalling as the result of the devastating effects of Hurricane Dorian on almost every aspect of island life. Lisa’s discovery of a small flock of a dozen plovers in the sunshine has given impetus to the project – and has resulted in some superb photos.

ABACO PIPING PLOVER WATCH: A POSTSCRIPT

This piece was posted in early January 2020, when no one could have predicted the current worldwide crisis. By then, Abaco Piping Plover Watch had basically ended on Sept 1 when Dorian wrought its havoc on Abaco with maximum force early in the season. By the end of the season, the Watch had been in action for 5 years and collected plenty of valuable migration data in conjunction with the breeding grounds. My own connection with Abaco had already lessened. Covid spread. It became clear, sadly, that the time was right to end the project.

Felicia FB – one of several loyal 4-year returners

Credits: All photos by Lisa Davies except header image Bruce Hallett; audio call, Paul Turgeon / Xeno-Canto; range map from WIKI

PIPING PLOVERS: ABACO’S RARE WINTER RESIDENTS

January 27, 2020 by Rolling Harbour

PIPING PLOVERS: ABACO’S RARE WINTER RESIDENTS

PIPING PLOVERS Charadrius melodus are specialist shorebirds on Abaco. For a start, they are very rare – the IUCN listing suggests a population of only 8000 mature birds in the world. They are both scarce numerically and limited geographically.

Piping Plovers breed and nest in the north and produce their chicks. The chicks soon learn to be independent and to fly. From about mid-July, those adults and chicks that have avoided the wheels of the SUVs, the unleashed dogs in the areas set aside for nesting, and the more natural dangers from gulls, start to get the urge to fly south for the winter. The range of their winter grounds is shown in blue on the range map above. It includes the Bahamas in general and Abaco in particular.

Q. WHY ARE THEY CALLED PIPING PLOVERS? A. BECAUSE OF THIS!

Paul Turgeon

I will return soon to the significance of the safe, clean beaches of Abaco and the healthy habitat for the survival of this remarkable little bird. For now, I’ll simply say that loss of habitat, and an increase in the nature and / or extent of environmental threats at either end of the migration, may seriously damage the survival of the species. It follows that habitat degradation at both ends of the migration could see the IUCN listing progress rapidly to vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered and… well, the next category is ‘extinct in the wild’.

If you are interested in shorebirds, in bird migration, in research into bird movements, and in the reason migratory birds are banded, you can find out more at ABACO PIPING PLOVER WATCH. This is the only season-long research project in the Bahamas, and involves Citizen Scientists on Abaco in the south working with partner Proper Scientists in the breeding grounds in the north. Early next month I will write a follow-up post on these topics.

The photographs in this post were taken a few days ago on the long crescent of beach at Winding Bay, Abaco by Lisa Davies. Her contribution is precious because the APPW project mentioned above was for many reasons in danger of stalling as the result of the devastating effects of Hurricane Dorian on almost every aspect of island life. Lisa’s discovery of a small flock of a dozen plovers in the sunshine has given impetus to the project – and has resulted in some superb photos.

Credits: All photos by Lisa Davies; audio call, Paul Turgeon / Xeno-Canto; range map from WIKI

“ON THEIR WAY”: THE PIPING PLOVER MIGRATION HAS BEGUN…

July 26, 2016 by Rolling Harbour

“ON THEIR WAY”: THE PIPING PLOVER MIGRATION HAS BEGUN…

The last piping plover known to have left Abaco for the summer breeding grounds was the renowned ‘Tuna’, in early April. We can’t say where he ended up – there are no reported sighting of him this summer from the NJ beach where he was born, raised and banded – or from anywhere else. The unbanded Delphi contingent had left the beach by the end of March.

Tuna Piping Plover Tuna. Abaco. Oct 10. Rhonda Pearce

Besides Tuna, of the named banded birds resighted on Abaco beaches last season (e.g. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Jonesy, Bahama Mama, Benny, Bess), only the most distant visitor Bahama Mama returned to her original beach in Muskegon State Park. Her mate from last year (‘Little Guy’) had already shacked up with another bird, so BM did likewise. Carol Cooper reports that all birds had left the beach by July 23.

Bahamas Pink Band 52 PIPL Pink Band 52, Abaco (Walker Golder)

As for Bahamas ‘Pink Bands’ – winter-banded birds – the BAHAMAS SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION INITIATIVE has posted a wonderful interactive map produced by Audubon which shows the astonishing extent of the migration undertaken by these little birds. Unfortunately none of last winter’s Abaco ‘pink numbers’ are shown as resighted. You can reach this great resource by clicking the image below. This will take you to the original – I am trying to work out how best to embed the map in my sidebar.

Click me!

Reports of migrating PIPL are beginning to come in and will accelerate over the next few weeks. First with a Bahamas report is Linda Barry-Cooper (West End Ecology Tours), who spotted 3 at Sandy Cay, West End, Grand Bahama on July 21 (‘10.00 a.m., high water’). With a modest fanfare of greeting, here are those first Bahamas birds of the season.

Piping plovers, West End, Grand Bahama (Linda Barry-Cooper)

ABACO PIPING PLOVER WATCH

Last season was an important one for having a bird count on Abaco, with the four-yearly census taking place in January. I started The Watch rather nonchalantly, but it quickly picked up enthusiasm and momentum and in the end it was of significant use for the official bird count. Here are the compressed stats for the from the end of July 2105 to January 2016. You will see – possibly with some surprise – that in only 5 months 3.83% of the total presumed piping plover population in the world was found on Abaco. And of course that’s only a total from sightings on certain beaches, mostly easily accessible, by a relatively small number of monitors. How many more were there on the all the unexplored expanses of beach, or indeed out on the Marls?

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The question is whether to continue the watch this coming season. If so, best to get it sorted before the first birds arrive any day now. I have decided to carry on, but – since it isn’t a census year – with a lighter touch this time (it’s a time-consuming process and there’s other stuff going on in my life.) Accordingly I would welcome reports of all Abaco sightings. If you are in doubt whether what you are seeing is a piping plover or some other shorebird, a photo or even a phone pic for ID would be great. The most helpful information to give is:

Date and time
Single bird or number of birds (if countable) or an estimate
Whether banded or not
If so, details of the banding: band or flag, colours, visible numbers etc
If at all possible, photos of the bird and its legs… I am able to enhance apparently dim or fuzzy pictures to some extent, so don’t worry if you don’t get a perfect shot.
If possible, state of tide – high, low, half-way, coming in, going out
Also, what the bird is doing – foraging, sleeping, rushing round in circles etc
Finally, location as accurately as possible. Area, name of beach, whereabouts (middle, east end, south end etc)

Piping Plover (juv) CT (Danny Sauvageau)

If you are one of the volunteer beach monitors from last year, I will be emailing you. If you’d like to monitor your own or a favourite beach, I’d love to hear from you.

CONTACT

Email me at rollingharbour.delphi [at] gmail.com
Post or message me via my Rolling Harbour FB page https://www.facebook.com/RollingHarbour.Abaco
Post or message me via the Abaco Piping Plover Watch https://www.facebook.com/Abaco.Piping.Plovers
Leave a comment for this post here or on my RH FB page above.

Piping Plover, Abaco - Charmaine Albury

Photo Credits: Jordan Rutter, Rhonda Pearce, Linda Barry-Cooper x 3, Danny Sauvageau, Charmaine Albury

BIRDS OF ABACO: WILDLIFE ART FROM ARTMAGENTA (1) – THE REAL DEAL

February 18, 2013 by Rolling Harbour

Jack-Snipe

BIRDS OF ABACO: WILDLIFE ART FROM ARTMAGENTA (1)

Sound of jet engines. “Back in the UK…” (as Macca so nearly sang), and I have the chance to amend the epic fail – or comic fail, anyway, that was the original of this post. And the truth is, Dear , that apart from simple captioned photos, an iPhone does not cut it for more complex posts involving formatting and so on. Or maybe I can’t use it properly (far more likely). Whichever, here is what should have appeared in the first place as a prepared, ‘press-the-go-button’ post for while we were away…

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

At Rolling Harbour, we are occasionally bold enough to investigate the interstices between wildlife and art. If that’s what one does to an interstice. ArtMagenta is the cyber-name (“ethernym”? Yes, I like it…) of Ulf, a prolific artist whose website ART MAGENTA provides an enjoyably eclectic selection of pictures. Birds from around the world. Caricatures. Sketches. ‘Gesture Drawings’. And more. From time to time I will post a small gallery of Ulf’s enjoyable depictions of the birds that may be found on Abaco.

BLACK SKIMMER

MOURNING DOVE

Mourning-Dove NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD

PIPING PLOVER

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD

RED-TAILED HAWK

LEAST TERN

AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER

“GIVE PEEPS A CHANCE”: THREATENED PIPING PLOVERS, ABACO BAHAMAS

November 16, 2012 by Rolling Harbour

“GIVE PEEPS A CHANCE”: THREATENED PIPING PLOVERS

Not the feeblest punning title on this blog, but going hard for the avian-related booby prize. As it were. And you might with reason point out that, strictly speaking, ‘peeps’ are not plovers at all, but small squeaky sandpiper species. Many months ago I did a short post about these tiny plovers, and had begun to update it. Then I found that both the BNT and the ABACO SCIENTIST are onto them too. Thanks to them, I have some excellent added material further down the page… But first, here’s a quick cut out ‘n’ keep summary

SIZE Charadrius melodus is a Very Small Shorebird

HABITAT Rocky shores / sandy beaches; nesting in higher, drier areas of the shoreline where there is cover

Photo courtesy of Caribbean Birds SCSCB

RANGE From Canada (summer) down to the Gulf of Mexico (winter). They head south in August and return in March

Credit: Xeno-Canto / Google

CALL A thin whistled peep peeping, whether standing or flying, and a two-note alarm call [There are surprisingly few Piping Plover call samples online. Many sites – Audubon, eNature, Birdwatchers Digest – all seem to have the same one. So I’ll credit them all and the originator Lang Elliot and hope I’ve covered my back…]

BREEDING The male digs out several scrapes on the high shoreline. The female contemplates these efforts, and (if any meet her ideal domestic criteria) chooses her preferred one, which she then decorates (grass, weed, shells etc). Meanwhile, Mr Peep tries to impress her by chucking pebbles around, dive-bombing her, and strutting around her importantly and “fluffed up” [none of these tactics work in human courtship, in my experience]. If Mrs Peep (a) likes the home she has chosen and furnished and (b) has recovered from her fit of the giggles at all that performance, she permits mating to proceed

NESTING First nests normally have 4 eggs; later ones fewer. Both share incubation and subsequent parental ‘brooding’ duties

DEFENCE Plovers have a defensive “broken wing display” used to distract predators and draw attention away from the nest

THREATS Larger birds, cats, raccoons etc. Human disturbance. Plovers and chicks are vulnerable to storms & abnormal high tides

ZOOM…! Capable of running at astonishing speed over short distances. When they stop, they often snap the head back and forward.

STATUS Depending on area, treated either as Threatened or Endangered; IUCN listing NT

CONSERVATION Historically PP feathers were used as decoration in wealthy women’s hats – no longer a problem. Shoreline development and alterations to natural coastline are now the leading cause of population decline. This has been reversed through field and legislative protection programs, especially at nesting sites; public education; anti-predation measures; and restricting human access in vulnerable areas – including off-roading…

STOP PRESS Nov 18 Sean has just posted a professional / scientific article about piping plovers, with some very useful information specific to Abaco and some helpful links, over at the ABACO SCIENTIST. Clicking through is highly recommended if you want to know more about these little birds

This is the characteristic ‘pigeon-toed’ stance – they run that way too…

RICARDO JOHNSON’S 6 MINUTE VIDEO ‘PIPING PLOVERS’

Ricky is a well-known, infectiously enthusiastic, and compendiously knowledgeable Abaco nature guide (this guy gets way too much free publicity in this blog…). As I wrote when I originally posted it “In this video he focusses his binoculars on piping plovers, a threatened species of tiny plover which annually makes a long migration to the Bahamas, including Abaco – and then heads all the way north again.”

If this video doesn’t make you smile at some stage, I suspect a SOH bypass and / or your ‘anti-cute’ setting is jammed on. Even so you’ll see the differences between the piping plover and the more familiar Wilson’s plover.

The BNT / ABSCI material originates from the Audubon Society. If you want to know about the annual journeys of these little birds and where they are in each season, it’s all here. The item was made in conjunction with the ESRI mapping project. I’ve put a screenshot below to give a general idea of what’s involved [click to enlarge] and you can reach the interactive Audubon page if you CLICK PIPING PLOVER

Credits:Wiki (images), Audubon Soc, Xeno-Canto, Lang Elliot & partners, Ricky Johnson

PICK A PAIR OF PIPING PLOVERS… ABACO BIRD VIDEO BY RICKY JOHNSON

May 23, 2011 by Rolling Harbour

NOW PROUDLY PRESENTING…

RICARDO JOHNSON’S 6 MINUTE VIDEO ‘PIPING PLOVERS’

Ricky is a well-known, infectiously enthusiastic, and compendiously knowledgeable Abaco nature guide (this guy gets way too much free publicity in this blog…). In this video he focusses his binoculars on piping plovers, a threatened species of tiny plover which annually makes a long migration to the Bahamas, including Abaco – and then heads all the way north again.

If this video doesn’t make you smile at some stage, I suspect a SOH bypass and / or your ‘anti-cute’ setting is jammed on. You’ll also see the differences between the piping plover and the more familiar Wilson’s plover.

PS Missed an obvious tongue-twister component out of the original title – now amended to tip a hat to Mine (and Thine) Host