Piping Plover
'
: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Charadriiformes : Charadriidae : Charadrius : melodus
Binomial name
Charadrius melodus Ord, 1824

The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small plover.

Adults have a very pale brown head and back, a white breast and rump and a dark neckband. The bill is orange and black and the legs are orange.

Their breeding habitat is beaches or sand flats on the Atlantic coast, the southern shores of the Great Lakes and in the mid-west of Canada and the United States. They nest on sandy or gravel beaches or sandbars.

They are migratory in northern areas and winter on the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and the West Indies.

These shorebirds forage for food on beaches, usually by sight, moving across the beaches in short bursts. They mainly eat insects, marine worms and crustaceans.

Its name comes from its piping call. This bird is endangered and its range has reduced recently due to habitat loss and human activity near nesting sites. Some critical nesting habitat is now protected.

External link

• US FWS Piping Plover site