Piping Plover Eggshell

Piping Plover nests are beginning to hatch! While some pairs are still trying to figure out where to spend the breeding season, plovers who arrived in March and got right to business now have young popping out from eggs like this one.

I discovered it earlier today along the waterline of one of our beaches - where we should all walk as much as possible - probably 100-125 feet from a nest that hatched hours before. Three tiny ones were stumbling around with mom and dad while foraging, resting, and trying to find some shade.

Piping Plover adults pick up the eggshells from their nest in their bills, walk away and dispose of them as another step in ensuring the safety of their very fresh young. There have been precious few exclosures set up in 2020 due to COVID-19, and there have certainly been numerous nests lost to predation. It was very satisfying to see a nest without an exclosure end up successful!

Scott Kruitbosch
AAfCW Volunteer Coordinator
RTPI Manager of Connecticut Programs