Piping Plover

(Charadrius melodus)

Date of Listing: Threatened (Listed)

© TPWD Photo

Note: Special thanks to the photographers for providing images of Texas endangered and threatened animals. All rights to these images are reserved. Educational use permitted.

Habitat alteration and destruction. Vehicular and foot traffic destroys chicks and eggs, and human presence inhibits normal activities for the plovers.

Size:

7 1/4 inches long, wingspan 15 inches.

Diet:

Marine worms, flies, beetles, spiders, crustaceans, mollusks and other small marine invertebrates.

Habitat (where it lives):

Sandy beaches and lakeshores.

Range (where found in Texas):

Migrates through the Great Lakes along the river systems through the Bahamas and West Indies. Currently found along the Atlantic Coast from Canada to North Carolina and along the shorelines of Lakes Michigan and Superior in Michigan. Winter along Gulf Coast beaches from Florida to Mexico, and Atlantic coast from Florida to North Carolina.

Reproduction:

Nests are shallow depressions in the sand, four eggs usual. Both parents incubate the eggs.

Population Numbers:

5,482 breeding adults in North America in 1991. The Texas coast has had at most 1,900 wintering individuals.

Interesting Fact:

Females commonly leave when the brood is 14-20 days old, but the male will stay with the offspring until they can fly.