Piping Plover Conservation Program

Hatching and raising a family on the beach isn’t easy, even for well-camouflaged birds with feathers that blend into the landscape. Piping Plovers depend on dynamic, healthy coastal ecosystems. Key challenges to the recovery of this small shorebird include habitat loss from coastal development, disturbances from recreation and motorized vehicles, predator pressures, and climate change.

Piping Plovers in southern Ontario, Nova Scotia, and southeastern New Brunswick are monitored, protected, and stewarded by volunteers and partners coordinating conservation efforts to help this species at risk. They still face many threats, including habitat loss due to development, disturbances from recreational beach users and off-leash dogs, and natural predators.