Texas - Piping Plover - Charadrius Melodus

	Piping Plover - Charadrius Melodus
STATUS: Endangered in the Great Lakes watershed, threatened in the remainder of its range, including coastal Texas, without critical habitat. DESCRIPTION: A small, stocky migratory shorebird about 7 inches long with a wingspan of about 15 inches. Both sexes have pale brownish upper parts and white underparts. A dark band encircling the body below the neck, a dark stripe across the forecrown, and bright orange legs are distinguishing marks in summer adults. White rump conspicuous in flight distinguishes it form the snowy plover. HABITAT: Nest sites include sandy beaches along the ocean or inland lakes; bare areas on dredge-created and natural alluvial islands in rivers; gravel pits along rivers; and salt-encrusted bare areas of sand, gravel or pebbly mud on alkaline interior lakes and ponds; fly-ash disposal ponds; dike roads adjacent to lakes; and gravel roads and parking lots. Some evidence suggests that minimum beach width is a limiting factor, with birds nesting in areas of greatest beach width. In winter, piping plovers use beaches, sandflats, mudflats, algal mats, and dunes along the Gulf Coast and adjacent offshore islands, as well as spoil islands in intracoastal waterways. DISTRIBUTION: Present: Nests along the Atlantic Coast, Great Lakes, and northern Great Plains. Populations drastically reduced, remnant populations occur throughout historic range. In Texas, statewide migrant. Winters along the Gulf Coast. Historic: Common along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and in the northern Great Plains, the Great Lakes, the Bahamas, and the West Indies. THREATS AND/OR REASONS FOR DECLINE: Loss and/or modification of habitat due to commercial, residential, and recreational development; dune stabilization; damming and channelization of rivers (eliminating sandbars, allowing vegetation to encroach and altering water flow); and wetland drainage. Other threats include human disturbance and recreational use of habitat. Increased urbanization has induced an increase in predation by skunks, foxes, and domestic pets. OTHER INFORMATION: Recovery plan approved in 1988. Conservation efforts have included research into habitat requirements, predation, and feeding ecology; habitat protection and acquisition; law enforcement; and educational efforts. Diet consists mainly of marine worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and insects. Piping plovers are good habitat quality indicator species for ephemeral and vulnerable (freshwater and saline) wetland habitat in which they live. There are about 4,000 piping plovers left. The Texas Gulf Coast has the highest wintering population of piping plovers with about 1,900 individuals. They exhibit strong site fidelity and territoriality. REFERENCES: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. August 1992. Threatened and Endangered Species of Texas. Endangered Species Office, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Piping Plover - Charadrius Melodus

STATUS: Endangered in the Great Lakes watershed, threatened in the remainder of its range, including coastal Texas, without critical habitat.

DESCRIPTION: A small, stocky migratory shorebird about 7 inches long with a wingspan of about 15 inches. Both sexes have pale brownish upper parts and white underparts. A dark band encircling the body below the neck, a dark stripe across the forecrown, and bright orange legs are distinguishing marks in summer adults. White rump conspicuous in flight distinguishes it form the snowy plover.

HABITAT: Nest sites include sandy beaches along the ocean or inland lakes; bare areas on dredge-created and natural alluvial islands in rivers; gravel pits along rivers; and salt-encrusted bare areas of sand, gravel or pebbly mud on alkaline interior lakes and ponds; fly-ash disposal ponds; dike roads adjacent to lakes; and gravel roads and parking lots. Some evidence suggests that minimum beach width is a limiting factor, with birds nesting in areas of greatest beach width. In winter, piping plovers use beaches, sandflats, mudflats, algal mats, and dunes along the Gulf Coast and adjacent offshore islands, as well as spoil islands in intracoastal waterways.

DISTRIBUTION:

Present: Nests along the Atlantic Coast, Great Lakes, and northern Great Plains. Populations drastically reduced, remnant populations occur throughout historic range. In Texas, statewide migrant. Winters along the Gulf Coast.
Historic: Common along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and in the northern Great Plains, the Great Lakes, the Bahamas, and the West Indies.

THREATS AND/OR REASONS FOR DECLINE: Loss and/or modification of habitat due to commercial, residential, and recreational development; dune stabilization; damming and channelization of rivers (eliminating sandbars, allowing vegetation to encroach and altering water flow); and wetland drainage. Other threats include human disturbance and recreational use of habitat. Increased urbanization has induced an increase in predation by skunks, foxes, and domestic pets.

OTHER INFORMATION: Recovery plan approved in 1988. Conservation efforts have included research into habitat requirements, predation, and feeding ecology; habitat protection and acquisition; law enforcement; and educational efforts. Diet consists mainly of marine worms, mollusks, crustaceans, and insects. Piping plovers are good habitat quality indicator species for ephemeral and vulnerable (freshwater and saline) wetland habitat in which they live. There are about 4,000 piping plovers left. The Texas Gulf Coast has the highest wintering population of piping plovers with about 1,900 individuals. They exhibit strong site fidelity and territoriality.

REFERENCES:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. August 1992. Threatened and Endangered Species of Texas. Endangered Species Office, Albuquerque, New Mexico