Eastern Canada Piping Plover Banding Project Initiated

By Diane L. Amirault, Canadian Wildlife Service
WINTER 2000

A banding study of eastern Canadian Piping Plovers is now under way. It was developed by members of the Piping Plover Recovery Team and Working Group in conjunction with experts across North America, in light of the limited success of programs that have attempted to reverse population declines over the last two decades.

The study is aimed at answering several questions regarding Piping Plover biology and behavior - whether juvenile birds are surviving to become part of the breeding population, for instance, and what limiting factors affect individuals from the Maritime population. It may also provide an understanding of the birds' interactions with populations in the eastern United States, and help researchers identify and understand local dispersal and migratory movement patterns.

Following a successful feasibility study and the development of a detailed protocol for banding birds with minimal disturbance, an intensive banding effort was started in eastern Canada during the summer of 1999. A total of 105 Piping Plovers were marked in the Maritimes: 24 adults and 81 juveniles (38 in Nova Scotia, 42 in New Brunswick, and 25 in Prince Edward Island). No birds were banded in Newfoundland. Seven of 21 birds banded during 1998 were also re-sighted in 1999, two of these in the location where they were banded.

Naturalists and other interested people are asked to report any banded Piping Plover sightings to the Canadian Wildlife Service - call (506) 364-5060 collect - or to a local Department of Lands and Forestry office. Please provide as much detail as possible including date, location, and band color and position (right or left leg). The effort will continue for the next four years.