The plovers kept quite busy this summer.
Great Lakes piping plover breeding set a big record this year, at least in one way. It was a record-shattering year for unique breeding pairs of the endangered species, but predators kept the number of surviving chicks down.
This year’s total unique breeding pair count was 88, breaking last year’s record by seven pairs. That’s the highest pair count since the species was added to the federal endangered species list 40 years ago.
However, dozens of plover nests were attacked by predators this season, including at least 26 at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a national park on Lake Michigan about 25 miles west of Traverse City.
Related: Oldest Great Lakes piping plover has 2 chicks this season at Sleeping Bear
A great horned owl killed a brood of chicks at the national park’s Dune Climb Trail, and coyotes ate eggs from six plover nests on North Manitou Island.
“This season was a bit difficult for hatching and chick survival, but in conclusion survival was not too dismal,” said Stephanie Schubel, of the Great Lakes Piping Plover Conservation Team.
There were 110 plover chicks that fledged in the wild, meaning they grew all their feathers, were able to fly and care for themselves without their parents. Another 36 chicks raised in captivity were also released by scientists onto Great Lakes beaches this year.
This MLive file photo shows recently hatched Great Lakes piping plover chicks on their first day outside the incubator, kept corralled in an enclosure June 25, 2025, at the University of Michigan Biological Station near Pellston. (Sheri McWhirter | MLive.com)Sheri McWhirter
Statistics show this year’s overall chick survival rate for the plovers was on target for eventual recovery of the endangered species, despite the losses to predators. There is no fixed timeframe for the species to recover, but instead a set of recovery goals including fledge rate – the average number of chicks per breeding pair that survive.
This year’s fledge rate for wild plovers was just below the recovery goal of 1.5 chicks per pair. And the birds surpassed the recovery goal when the captive-reared chicks were added in for 146 total chicks this summer. The record number of fledged chicks was 167 two years ago.
Sunrise side birds
Another bright spot for Michigan’s piping plovers this year came on the sunrise side of the state.
This is the third consecutive year of record-setting plover breeding in the Great Lakes. Now an increasing number of the federally endangered birds are establishing nests on the Lake Huron side of the Lower Peninsula; five this year, with one in Cheboygan, another in Oscoda, and three at Tawas Point State Park.
It was the first attempted nest at Cheboygan State Park since the 1990s, said Nick Theisen, watershed technician for nonprofit Huron Pines.
One chick from the Cheboygan site was captive-reared and released, along with four chicks from the Tawas Point site. One chick fledged in the wild at the Oscoda site.
It amounts to a lot of plover activity on the east side of Michigan.
Related: Great Lakes piping plover moms head to southern islands and leave dad behind
“We have the same male who’s come back for the past three years, which is exciting,” Theisen said. “Unfortunately, he lost both of his nests, but his eggs were the ones that were salvaged, kept and reared, and re-released. So, we’re hoping that he comes back.”
And this was the fourth year on the Huron shore near Oscoda for another male piping plover nicknamed “East Side Bob.” His moniker comes from his ankle tags colored blue, orange, blue – BOB.
“He’s successfully fledged chicks. I mean, it’s not as good of a site as Tawas Point. It’s a really weird beach that he likes, but, you know, he likes it. It works,” Theisen said.
Nevertheless, predators also took their toll on the Lake Huron shore. Wildlife monitors at Tawas Point documented a merlin killing a female adult, and they believe gulls ate the eggs from another nest there.
“They’re an endangered species for a reason,” Theisen said.
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