Piping Plover females are the first to leave the Great Lakes and head south, leaving dad to finish raising the chicks.

The Great Lakes piping plover recovery effort has been ongoing since the mid-1980s when the population got as low as a dozen ...

One of the oldest piping plovers at the park, "Gabby" now has raised 37 chicks to flight. She soon will return to Georgia for ...

Gabby, the oldest Great Lakes piping plover, had two new chicks at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. One of the new chicks is pictured here.

At 16 years old, the Great Lakes piping plover, officially designated "Of,gb:X,Y," is the oldest ever recorded for the lakeshore's endangered piping plover population.

At 16 years old, the Great Lakes piping plover, officially designated "Of,gb:X,Y," is the oldest ever recorded for the lakeshore's endangered piping plover population.

Some of the hottest chicks on Montrose Beach are now named El, Bean and Ferris. Why it matters: The monikers for this third ...

Great Lakes piping plover Searocket looks for food near a nest where she laid an egg at Montrose Beach on May 31, 2024, in Chicago. The Park District announced the presence of a new egg on the ...

Piping plovers, Lueck said, are the poster species for the need to protect and restore fragile Great Lakes dune ecosystems. Having two nests in Illinois is “pretty spectacular,” she added.

But, with Montrose Beach acting as a haven, the piping plover population rebounded in 2019. They are still considered endangered, and it’s considered a success in the Great Lakes if 1.6 chicks ...

Monty, one half of Chicago’s endangered Great Lakes piping plover pair, died on May 13, 2022, at Montrose Beach. It was his fourth summer in the North Side sand. He was still waiting on the ...

by 1986, there were only about a dozen piping plover pairs left in the Great Lakes. The future looked so bleak for our feathered friends. They were officially added to the endangered species list.