The Endangered Piping Plover:
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Piping plover with bands for identification
One migratory bird in particular, the piping plover, has become Chicago’s sweetheart. There are three populations of piping plovers. One population occurs along the shorelines of the Great Lakes, another on the rivers and lakes of the Northern Great Plains, and the third along the Atlantic Coast. The Great Lakes piping plover population likes sandy beaches and tidal flats. It nests on open beaches near the water. It usually lays one clutch of 2 to 5 eggs. The eggs are pale with black and brown spots. The incubation period averages about 26-28 days. Both males and females take turns incubating the eggs. Piping plovers form monogamous pairs during the breeding season but sometimes change mates the following year. The young may leave their nest a few hours after hatching and feed themselves by pecking at the sandy ground for insects. Marine worms, small crustaceans, flies, water beetles, snails, and roundworms, among others, are their preferred food. The chicks are precocial, meaning that once they hatch, they are completely mobile and can feed themselves.[35] On December 11, 1985, the Great Lakes population was listed as endangered. By May 7, 2001, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated critical habitat for the Great Lakes breeding population of piping plovers.[36]
Leslie Borns and the Questions that Revitalized Montrose Beach Dunes
In 2020, The Reader, a Chicago-based newspaper, published an article titled “How One Woman Revived the City’s Most Impressive Natural Ecosystem.” Leslie Borns, an avid birder and volunteer with the Bird Conservation Network, noticed lakeshore rush, Schoenoplectus lacustris, a grassy plant not seen in the area since 1946. Leslie convinced the Chicago Park District to allow it to grow. The Chicago Park District agreed.
Lakeshore rush is a rare plant that naturally grows on sand dunes and wet shorelines. Other plant species that are normally associated with dunes began growing there, too. Sandbar willow and cottonwood trees protect from waves and also serve as food for wetland birds, among other animals. Other plants on the Illinois threatened species list, such as sea rocket and dune grass, began to grow in the area too. Dune grass helps stabilize the sand, keeping it from blowing away. While this new growth may look messy to a casual beach sunbather, dunes provide a sanctuary for the tired migrating bird.[37] This developing change in habitat provided a panne habitat, a rare wetland type that occurs only along the Great Lakes and is often found on sand dunes. This revitalization of the lakeshore rush, along with the other returning plants, later provided a hiding place for the piping plover. The fact that plovers are nesting there is basically a credit to all the volunteers who questioned authorities about the future of Montrose Beach Dunes.[38]
Dunes start as bare sand, then become dunes with grass helping to hold them in place. When grass takes root on a beach, its roots will begin to trap sand, causing small dunes to form. This, in turn, sets the stage for additional plant and animal life to inhabit the dunes. Over time, shrubs and trees take root. As more time passes, a full forest, also called a climax forest, is able to grow at the back edge of a dune system. This change in ecosystems over time is called succession. During succession, a series of changes occur in the ecological community that inhabits a region. Succession occurs when the activities of living organisms and abiotic factors change a region's conditions, making it more habitable for a different group of organisms. In sand dunes, an example of the changing communities is beach, foredune, interdunal pond, and forested backdune.[39]
Montrose Beach was originally formed by landfills and later shaped by natural processes and, more recently, by a whole lot of advocacies, as Leslie Borns demonstrated. Sand dunes were created at Montrose Beach by Lake Michigan and by the Chicago Park District, which stopped grooming the area in 2001 after Borns questioned what would happen if we let the plants grow.[40] This helped create a rare habitat for rare plants. The dune is now about 6-8 feet tall in some parts. With its success as a migratory bird sanctuary and ample community volunteer advocacy, the Chicago Park District agreed to expand the Montrose Beach habitat. “We are thrilled to announce the expansion of the Montrose Natural Area,” said Chicago Park District General Superintendent & CEO Michael Kelly. “This treasured space, which attracts native and migratory birds, including the endangered Piping Plover, and various plants, brings nature and people together in a unique way.” 3.1 acres were added to the 12.8 acres that were originally there. It is the only place in the city that has a state-level designation as a protected area.[41]
Monty and Rose: The Piping Plovers’ Conservation Love Story
Monty and Rose first appeared on Montrose Beach in Chicago in May of 2019. That year they fledged 2 chicks. They were banded the previous year while nesting at Waukegan Beach, about 30 miles north of Chicago. When the plovers first arrived at Montrose Beach, birders were astonished. A bird-watching volunteer recognized them. This made big news because it was the first time that Chicago had nesting piping plovers since 1946. There was no enclosure, just a regular city beach. The pair was named Monty and Rose after Montrose Beach. Monty and Rose returned in 2020 and fledged 3 chicks, Nish, Hazel, and Esperanza. They came back again in 2021 and fledged Imani and Siewka before an eagerly waiting audience of volunteers and regular beach visitors, who were excited to take part in this rare natural event. Unfortunately, in 2022, Monty arrived in April, but Rose never arrived from her wintering site in Florida. Monty passed away a month later, on May 13, from a fungal infection. Imani, their chick from the previous year, returned to Montrose Beach but did not find a mate.
In 2023, Imani returned to Montrose Beach again but again did not find a mate. During that season in July, Sea Rocket, Prickly Pear, and Wild Indigo were released from the country’s only plover incubation facility in northern Michigan from eggs that were captured in upstate New York.[42] Hoping one would return the following year and mate with Imani. The following year, in May of 2024, Sea Rocket returned and mated with Imani! They fledged Nagamo. The year after, in 2025, they returned and fledged Bean, El, and Ferris, honoring Chicago landmarks. Unfortunately, Ferris was eaten by a red-tailed hawk on 63rd Street Beach during its migration south. And this year, 2026, Imani and Sea Rocket returned once again to fledge four: Buddy, Frankie, Mavis, and Tweedy, honoring Chicago music legends Buddy Guy, Frankie Knuckles, Mavis Staples, and Jeff Tweedy.
Becoming familiar with the birds, naming them, and tracing their family tree forms a relationship with them that regular bird observations cannot match. Chicago bird watchers not only know them but also know their parents and offspring; their heartbreaks and triumphs. This heartwarming story has helped with piping plover conservation efforts. If anything happens to them during their migration, as in the case of Ferris, who was eaten by a brown-tailed hawk at 63rd Street Beach, the public is aware of it. I have had students ask me months after I introduced them to the Chicago piping plovers if I know their whereabouts. It is difficult not to care for someone that you have become familiar with, as in the case of Monty and Rose and their offspring. By the way, Monty’s father, YOGI, and his mate, bLo, are still alive in Silver Lake State Park in Michigan.
Unfortunately, like many other animal species, the piping plover remains threatened by increased human activity. Beachgoers and off-leash dogs are a great threat.[43] The choice Monty and Rose made to nest on one of the most highly populated beaches in the Chicago area has not made it easy. Hence, the danger their offspring continue to face. Climate change is also a threat. The Audubon Survival by Degrees project is an interactive website that lets us choose a temperature scenario to see the threats facing the piping plover as the climate warms.[44] The 2025 State of the Birds report found that piping plovers have lost more than 50% of their population over the past 50 years.[45] The Great Lakes region has not yet reached its goal of 150 breeding pairs, but volunteers continue to fight for the comeback of this endearing bird. Volunteers now provide fencing around the nests, and night-vision cameras have been installed. One example of a large-scale effort to guard the nesting Montrose Beach pair was when Mamby on the Beach Music Festival, scheduled to take place on Montrose Beach and expected to draw 40,000 people over 2 days, was canceled due to the rapid mobilization of volunteers who had been monitoring the piping plovers.[46]
As one can see, it takes everyday people who ask important questions to aid in conservation efforts. I want my students to know that they can make positive changes, but first they need to understand and embrace the natural world around them. The most important thing we, as educators, can do is provide them with time and space.
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