Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
chicksareexposedtohighwindsandblowingsandthatwouldsendmostbirdsscurrying.
The eggs and adult and chick plumage are perfectly camouflaged to protect them from
Peregrine Falcons and other natural beach predators.
Though exquisitely adapted to this wild environment, Piping Plovers are not adapted
to the changes that people bring. Where beaches haven't been developed, all-terrain
vehicles, running dogs, oil slicks, and other disturbances make it difficult for plovers to
feedandnest.Gulls,raccoons,andcrowsthatareinitiallyattractedtoabeachbypicnick-
ers and their garbage will also notice and eat plover eggs and chicks. Feral cat colonies
imperil them in some areas.
At the public beach on the University of California-Santa Barbara's Coal Oil Point
Reserve, people wanted to protect the closely related and threatened Snowy Plover,
which had stopped breeding along that beach. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the
Santa Barbara Audubon Society, and the University of California Natural Reserve Sys-
tem worked together to fashion a program that has brought the number of plover nests
thereannuallyfromvirtuallyzerofromthe1970sthrough2000toafewdozeneveryyear
since 2004. How did they do this?
A USGS study determined the smallest part of the beach that could be closed to max-
imize protection of plovers with minimal inconvenience to beach users. In 2001, when
a single Snowy Plover chick was seen near a dune-restoration project, the university in-
stalled a rope fence to enclose the core plover habitat along 400 yards of beach. The area
stretched from wet sand to dry areas above the tidal zone but allowed people to walk at
the water's edge along the beach. Educational and regulatory signs were installed.
Perhaps the single most critical thing the partnership did was to empower an army of
volunteer docents to become Snowy Plover ambassadors. I went to the beach to see them
in action in 2005. I witnessed their interactions with passersby, showing and educating
themabouttheplovers,requestingcompliancewiththedogleashlaw,requestingthemto
keep their distance from the fence, and scaring away crows. A spotting scope was trained
on a plover chick, and I loved hearing people seeing them for the first time: “They're so
