The Piping Plover, Charadrius melodus, is listed as the top species of Highly Imperiled Global Concern in the 2004 U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan.  Since 1986, of the three North American breeding populations, two are listed as Threatened and one as Endangered under the current Endangered Species Act.  It is highly threatened in its Population Trend, Population Size, Breeding Areas, Non-breeding Areas, Breeding Distribution, and Non-breeding Distribution.  All categories have a 4 or 5 rating, with 5 being the highest.  Volusia County’s own Ponce Inlet is a wintering home to these precious birds.  They have been observed on all portions of the shores around Smyrna Dunes Inlet Park and on the two largest interior islands of Ponce Inlet.  The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has designated those areas as Critical Wintering habitat and they are included in the area for Unit FL-34.  The wintering season is Aug- May of each year.  That 10 month stretch means that it is possible that one wintering bird could be utilizing local habitat for most of the year.  Piping Plovers have been noted to prefer inlet habitats and use them for wintering grounds and also as migratory stop over locations.  General Piping Plover facts:  The name Piping Plover comes from the melodious “piping” mating call they make. They have a characteristic foot “chicken dance” scratch that helps for easy identification. Piping plovers feed along beaches and intertidal mud and sand flats. Primary prey for piping plovers includes worms, various crustaceans, insects, and occasionally bivalve mollusks. USFWS website, 2005 They have different plumages according to the season (breeding or wintering) but always maintain their distinctive orange legs even as fledglings. Breeding and wintering habitat is threatened and being reduced due to human development and recreational activities.
Related links of interest
Piping Plover Banded Bird sightings piping.plover@usace.army.mil (include # of birds, GPS or location, band combination, as much info as possible.)
Discussion groups listserv@listserv.uga.edu type in the body of the message:   subscribe SHOREBIRDS FIRSTNAME LASTNAME (example: subscribe SHOREBIRDS ROBERT WALLACE), Please leave the Subject line of the email blank
Information http://www.fws.gov/plover/ http://www.abisw.org/indexpipl.html http://www.myfwc.com/shorebirds/ http://ploverwardendiaries.blogspot.com/ http://www.manomet.org/programs/shorebirds/	http://www.shorebirdworld.org/ http://www.americanbirding.org/ http://www.birdsource.org/ http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/AllAboutBirds/

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