How Kids Can Help Save The Snowy Plover

There’s nothing like a day at the beach. And the beaches that stretch along California’s Pacific coast are especially nice. Blue waves crash and roll onto golden sand, dragging dark green kelp seaweed in from the ocean. Flowers such as beach primrose decorate the sandy dunes. You might even spy a harbor seal hauling out to sunbathe. Between the sand and waves, smallish birds scuttle back and forth at fast-forward speed, chasing the waves while looking for food. These are shorebirds, wading birds with names like willet, curlew, or sanderling.

One shorebird you might miss on a California beach is the western snowy plover. The small sparrow-sized shorebird can be hard to spot. Its light-colored feathers blend in with the sand—it nearly disappears when it huddles from the wind behind driftwood or in sandy depressions. Western snowy plovers are also hard to see because there aren’t many around anymore. The Pacific coast population is listed as a threatened species in the United States. The troubled bird is protected by the Endangered Species Act. Why are these coastal snowy plovers disappearing?

Part of the problem is loss of habitat. So many Californians crowd onto their beloved beaches that there’s little room left for wildlife. The Pacific shoreline is a unique ecosystem of plants and animals. It provides places for seals and sea lions to haul out, shorebirds to feed and nest, and unique plants to grow. A lot of beach habitat is already gone. There are only half as many coastal snowy plover nesting sites as forty years ago.

Western snowy plover pairs make their nest right on the sand. They line a shallow depression, called a scrape, with whatever’s around—dried kelp, pebbles, or shell bits. Females lay one to four eggs in the nest. The pale color of the eggs camouflages them. Blending in with the sandy background helps protect snowy plovers from predators like ravens, owls, and raccoons. But beaches filled with sunbathing, Frisbee-throwing, picnicking, dog-walking, kite-flying, campfire building, bike-riding people is another matter. It’s easy for beachgoers to accidentally trample the nests, eggs, and chicks of western snowy plovers. All the activity also bothers the birds, driving away plover parents, and leaving eggs or chicks unprotected.

Where Will Your Pennies Go?

California kids have gone into action to help western snowy plovers. They are working to protect the birds and their beach habitat before it’s too late. How? By creating signs that ask beachgoers to share the shore with wildlife! The kid-created signs alert people to the birds and ask them to stay out of fenced-off areas during the breeding season, March through August. Your pennies will help educate people about the urgent need to protect beach habitat and its wildlife—and help save western snowy plovers.

For more information, visit: http://ca.audubon.org/birds/snowy_plover.php

PHOTO CREDITS: (top, l to r): Michael L. Baird; Andy Raatz/iStock; Andrea Jones. (left) Carmen Martínez Banús/iStock. (right, top to b): courtesy of westernsnowyplover.org/art. (bottom, l to r): Gregory Smith; Andrea Jones; John Van de Graaff.