Overview
Hello Ploverites!
So much can change in one week! In our update last week, we still had seven active snowy plover nests with a total of 51 nests found for the season. As of today, we have one active nest left in seashore and our new total nests for the season is 55. During the week, our team found chicks from two previously unidentified nests as well as two more nests that hatched out within days (and in one case hours) after finding, which is how our total nests for the season jumped from 51 to 55. In all four cases, it's great to see that they were able to hatch out with minimal help from our team. It truly shows how resilient these little birds are in the face of many factors going against them.
In finding these extra nests along with having almost all our final eggs hatched, there is a maximum possibility of 25 chicks running around the beach between Abbotts Lagoon and the North Beach parking lot. While the real number is likely less than 25, I like to think that these birds will take every chance they can to surprise us. Our lone active nest out at Limantour Beach should be hatching out in the next couple of days and that will likely be it for eggs on our beaches! The season always flies by so fast.
Our team found multiple flocks of wintering snowy plovers at Limantour totaling 61 birds, with individuals from the South Bay Area, Monterey, Oregon, and the central coast, along with some of our fledges from across the seashore. We expect to see more birds arriving in the coming months and will have plenty of band combos to look out for!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 55 total nests this season
- 1 active nest
- 25 hatched
- 29 failed nests
- 25 maximum chicks on PRNS beaches
- 9 chicks fledged
- 2 PRNS juveniles released from IBR
Photos
A snowy plover chick banded red over violet on the left leg and aqua over violet on the right leg (rv:av) at Abbotts Lagoon. The left leg combo (rv) is one of four left leg color combinations used to denote that this bird is from Point Reyes National Seashore. This is one of two chicks banded at their nest at Abbotts Lagoon on July 30, 2025.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
Three banded snowy plover chicks on North Beach placed next to sea rocket (Cakile maritima). These chicks were found about 100 meters north of their nest, hiding in this vegetation.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
An unbanded, female snowy plover incubating eggs next to a piece of driftwood and Tidestrom’s lupine (Lupinus tidestromii) in a mini predator exclosure (ME) within the Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area. These exclosures aid in keeping eggs out of reach from predators like common ravens (Corvus corax) or coyotes (Canis latrans).
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
A female snowy plover banded green over black on the left leg, pink over white on the right leg (Gk:pw) on Limantour Beach. Because the green band is placed above the leg joint, it is denoted with an upper case ‘G’ in the shorthand expression of the band combination. If you look closely, there is an antenna sticking out the backside of the bird. This is a Motus tag, which is small radio transmitter attached to the bird to track movements across both small and large areas. This bird was banded and tagged at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
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