`Shy` birds vulnerable to tides, crows

Halifax, The Daily News: News | 'Shy' birds vulnerable to tides, crows - and beachgoers
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Last updated at 7:17 AM on 30/07/07
'Shy' birds vulnerable to tides, crows - and beachgoers
BY MELANIE PATTEN
The Canadian Press
It is estimated that fewer than 100 adult piping plovers are left in Nova Scotia. (CP photo)
Sue Abbott can't control the tides, and the crows won't listen to anything she has to say.
But the Halifax-based biologist hopes people will heed her advice and stop vandalizing the summer homes of the few, tiny
piping plovers trying to nest on Atlantic Canada's beaches.
"There's a number of threats ... like predators and flooding from tides and storms, but humans are part of the picture,"
says Abbott, who works with Bird Studies Canada, a non-profit group dedicated to conserving wild birds and their habitats.
"It's possible that plovers could become extinct in Atlantic Canada. We're doing our best to make sure that doesn't happen."
Abbott estimates there are fewer than 500 endangered adult piping plovers left in the region.
Plover lovers often describe the palm-sized creatures, which weigh only as much as six toonies, as "fluff balls with toothpick
legs."
In the warmer months, adults can be identified by their chubby white bellies and skinny orange legs. Their bills are orange
and black, and they sport a black band on their forehead and around their neck.
With their sand-coloured backs and heads, piping plovers can be difficult to spot by beachgoers. The same goes for their
tiny, black-and-grey-flecked eggs. Resting in a small scratch of sand, they blend in easily with surrounding rocks.
http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=48622&sc=89
20/08/2007
Halifax, The Daily News: News | 'Shy' birds vulnerable to tides, crows - and beachgoers
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Canadian Wildlife Services grants permits to groups like Abbott's to protect sensitive nesting areas with ropes and signs,
but the measures do little to stop crows, gulls and raccoons from preying on piping plovers and their eggs.
Wayward feet are also part of the problem.
"Their nesting areas ... are between the dunes and the high-tide mark, if we trample too much around that area, it's really
hard for plovers to establish a nest site there," says Abbott, adding there are fewer than 100 adult piping plovers in Nova
Scotia.
"And worse, sometimes eggs get crushed, and the little chicks are flightless for about a month, so they're also vulnerable to
foot traffic and off-leash dogs."
Earlier this summer in Nova Scotia's Shelburne County, all-terrain vehicles were used to pull up piping plover nesting signs
on Roseway Beach, Abbott says.
Vandals also destroyed signs on Conrad Beach, outside of Halifax, and apparently used wooden posts that had been holding
up a rope barrier for a campfire.
In both cases, the birds - which Abbott describes as shy - abandoned their nests and the beaches.
Abbott says she believes most people are just "naturally curious" about the birds and don't intend to cause harm, but she
isn't convinced all cases of destroyed rope and signs are accidental.
"In some cases, I do think it's a deliberate attack," she says.
"People might be frustrated that they can't necessarily do different activities on the beach ... so it might be a way of
expressing their frustration."
Abbott's group works with Canadian Wildlife Services to administer so-called guardian programs.
Volunteers comb the beach, keep an eye on roped areas and signs and speak to beachgoers about piping plovers.
Dottie Welch has been watching out for her winged friends for five years on Conrad Beach, outside of Halifax.
"I'll continue to keep an eye on them as long as I'm able ... I think it's an important thing," says Welch.
"I'm hoping that we can educate people enough on the obvious conflicts between people and wild things, so we can find
ways to coexist."
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20/08/2007