educate the public, record data and
observe the nest. This dedication has
led to improved hatching success.
Winter in Kiawah
August sees the arrival of
piping plovers from their summer
breeding grounds. Most likely the
adults have been to Kiawah before,
since they are known to return to the
same wintering beach each year. Now,
they look very different than they did
during the summer. Then they had
an orange-yellow beak with a black
tip, a black neck ring (sometimes
incomplete) and a black line just above
the forehead. At Kiawah, they have
a black beak, and the black neck and
head markings are faded or not visible.
They still have orange-yellow legs, but
the color is more subdued.
The birds spend their time
on Kiawah recovering from the
tremendous energy expenditure
required for breeding, molting and
migration. They also begin to feed in
earnest in order to re-build their fat
stores for the next round of activities.
Kiawah offers an abundance of the
food sources favored by plovers:
worms, fly larvae, beetles, crustaceans,
mollusks and other invertebrates. The
birds tend to locate in intertidal areas,
particularly near inlets, where the
dynamic environment makes these
food sources easily accessible. They
tend to select feeding areas adjacent to
sandy expanses where they can go to
roost. Instead of feeding in flocks like
sandpipers, plovers tend to spread out
and feed individually. On intertidal
mud flats, they have been observed
slightly raising one leg and vibrating
it rapidly so the toes disturb the sand,
setting prey in motion.
Piping plovers have excellent
eyesight and are able to see the tiny
animals that they consume. Beachgoers
often notice their distinctive approach
to feeding: running for a short
distance, stopping, cocking their head
and then pecking with their beak to
grab their prey. Their call is also
quite memorable. While birders have
reported a variety of calls associated
with different activities or situations:
alarm, courtship, settling on nest, allclear and contentment; the sounds are
usually low and clear, and able to be
heard above the pounding surf. In fact,
the piping plover gets its name from its
sharp whistles.
Threats to Survival
The very habitat that the
Atlantic Coast plovers require:
intertidal beaches, flats and undisturbed
dunes extending down to the lowest
low tide mark are also the places
that are under the most stress from
development. Coastal development
has decreased the amount of habitat
available to piping plovers. In addition,
development brings disturbances such
as foot and vehicular traffic. Studies
have indicated that, when shorebirds
are disturbed by people walking on
the beach through a feeding area, the
amount of nutrition the birds ingest
is reduced. Not only do they have
less sustained feeding periods, but
responding to disturbances and threats
requires that the birds tap into the
very energy reserves they are trying to
build. Feeding without disruption can
be especially crucial for juvenile birds
that require maximum nutrition durin