It's an article several weeks old, but such rays of hope need to be captured and preserved.
Most visitors to the Petoskey State Park play in the water, dig in the sand, and walk the shore. But this summer, two first-time park visitors raised a family and in so doing took their species three birds further from extinction. This was an important step forward for the endangered Piping Plover.
The Great Lakes Piping Plover came perilously close to extinction in the 1980s, when their numbers–once estimated at 800 breeding pairs–dropped down to only 12 pairs.
These shorebirds’ rapid decline is attributed to habitat destruction, nest disruption and predation. In 1986, the Piping Plover was placed on the Federal Register and listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USF&Ws). Fortunately, the numbers of breeding pairs and fledged chicks has grown in the last three years to 55 last year, one-third of the way to the recovery goal of 150 pair.
http://www.harborlightnews.com/News/2005/0727/Community/038.html
Posted by Dave at August 27, 2005 08:25 PM