Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)

Great Lakes Population

Photo by USFWS; Joel Trick

Great Lakes Population of Piping Plover

Status: Endangered, listed December 11, 1985

Habitat: Beaches along shorelines of the Great Lakes

Lead Region: 3

Region 3 Lead Office: East Lansing, Michigan Field Office

Summer Range: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Piping Plover Critical Habitat for the Great Lakes Population Breeding Habitat: Designated May 7, 2001 in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin

The piping plover is a small shorebird that nests in the Great Plains states, on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior, and along the Atlantic coast - all populations winter along the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts in the U.S. This website features the Great Lakes population, which is listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act.

An active recovery program in Michigan, aided by many volunteers, has helped the plover population to steadily increase. In 2008, there were 63 breeding pairs (126 individuals). Of these, 53 pairs nested in Michigan, while 10 were found outside the state, including six pairs in Wisconsin and four in Ontario, Canada. A single breeding pair discovered in 2007 in the Great Lakes region of Canada represented the first confirmed piping plover nest there in over 30 years, and in 2008 the number of nesting pairs further increased to four. In 2009, a pair nested on the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois, the first nest in Illinois in 30 years.

Volunteers Needed!

Help protect and monitor piping plover nests.

Conservation and Recovery Information:

September 22, 2009: 5-Year Review (206-page 1MB PDF)

September 2, 2009: Strong Partnership Benefits Wisconsin Piping Plovers

August 11, 2009 - Endangered Piping Plover Chicks Make History. Three chicks are from first Illinois nest in 30 years.

Comprehensive Conservation Strategy

for the Piping Plover in its Coastal Migration and Wintering Range in the Continental United States (Dec. 2012)

The Comprehensive Conservation Strategy synthesizes conservation needs across the shared coastal migration and wintering ranges of the three federally-listed piping plover populations.