Connecticut Audubon Society Bird Finder for May 9: Piping Plover

Piping Plover on a Long Island Sound beach. Connecticut Audubon Society photo by Sean Graesser

Piping Plover
Charadrius melodus

This week’s Bird Finder was written by Michelle Eckman, Connecticut Audubon Society’s director of education

Where to Find It: Piping Plovers can now be found in many beach areas of our state, including our Milford Point Coastal Center, 1 Milford Point Road. Piping Plovers have also been seen at Long Beach in Stratford, Griswold Point in Old Lyme, and Sandy Point in West Haven.

How to find it: From the Milford Point Coastal Center visitor’s center, walk towards Long Island Sound to the boardwalk and the water. Check the open sandy areas of the beach where the tide breaks; Piping Plovers forage for invertebrates along this zone of the coastline. BE PATIENT: Piping Plovers are so well camouflaged that you could easily miss them, especially when they are standing still. Keep your eyes out for movement; they will typically toggle between very rapid starts and stops.

BE CAUTIOUS: Piping Plover is a federally and state-threatened species due to loss of habitat; please respect the law and do not cross any symbolic fencing or posted areas that protect plovers from human disturbance.

They nest above the high tide line, close to dunes or in areas of beach grass. Their nests are very inconspicuous; mere scrapes in the sand with sand-colored eggs.

A Piping Plover and chick at Milford Point. Photo by Tom and Laura Zawislinski

What it looks like: Piping Plovers are extraordinarily well-camouflaged for their sandy environment with sand-colored, brownish-gray plumage above, white below and two distinctive black bands; one that forms a black collar and the other a “head band” between their black eyes. Their legs are orange. In general, males are more dramatic in color than females, but they are quite similar. Piping plovers are about 7.5 inches long, smaller than robins, about the same size as a sparrow.

What if the bird isn’t there? Lucky for you, you’re at the beach! Enjoy the sound of the waves breaking and the feeling of the breeze on your face. If that isn’t enough, keep your eyes out for other beach-going birds such as Sanderlings, American Oystercatchers, and the diving acrobatics of Least and Common Terns.

Connecticut Audubon Bird Finder is edited by Tom Andersen.