Overview
Hello Ploverites!
While no new snowy plover nests were found in the seashore this week, we are finally starting to get a nice wave of hatching nests! Last Saturday, Point Blue biologist Ryan DiGaudio and I banded a freshly hatched three chick brood at Kehoe beach. Conditions were perfect: low wind, overcast but warm, three plover chicks in the nest bowl, and (maybe most importantly) not a raven in sight. During our surveys at Kehoe the following Monday, we confirmed that the brood made it through the weekend and had already moved about 150 meters north of their nest site. We were also delighted on Monday to find another nest hatching out almost right on schedule. When Point Blue biologist Carleton Eyster and I arrived at the nest around 11 am, there was one chick sitting next to two peeping and pipped eggs. Not long before hatch, you can hear chicks peeping while still in the egg and know they will be out within hours if the egg is pipped (when the membrane and shell of the egg have been punctured and you can see the chick inside the egg before they have fully hatched out). We left the nest alone and returned around 4 pm, where we found two dry chicks and a third chick that had hatched out of the egg no more than a couple minutes earlier. Those three chicks were banded, and we will hopefully find all six chicks running around the beach during our survey of Kehoe tomorrow.
On Tuesday, June 10, Ryan and I ventured out in the dune restoration area of Abbotts Lagoon and found a similar situation with another hatching nest: one dry chick and two pipped eggs, although only one was peeping. We left the nest and returned four hours later to find two chicks and a silent, pipped egg. On occasion, chicks get to the point where they can start the process of hatching from their egg, but not be strong enough to fully hatch out, which is what happened in this instance. We banded the two chicks that were present and placed them back in the nest with the egg in the event that the egg could still hatch out. On Wednesday, we returned to check on the nest and found that the male had led his two chicks out to the outer beach and confirmed suspicions that the egg had failed to hatch out. It's a bummer that we did not have all three eggs from that nest hatch, but there will hopefully be lots more chicks out on the beach soon. Of our currently eight active nests, we're projecting six of them to be hatched out by next Wednesday! I'll do my best to get many cute chick pics for y'all!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 40 total nests this season
- 8 active nest
- 8 hatched
- 24 failed nests
- 13 chicks on the beach
- 0 chicks fledged
A snowy plover chick banded red over violet on the left leg and yellow over blue on the right leg (rv:yb). 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 three chicks banded at their nest at Kehoe Beach on June 9, 2025.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
Three banded snowy plover chicks placed next to sea rocket (Cakile maritima) on Kehoe Beach. The chick in the middle of the three appears smaller and wet due to it hatching very recently before this picture was taken. Within several minutes to an hour after brooding, this chick's feathers will be dry and look like the other two chicks present in this picture.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
Three banded snowy plover chicks next to dried Velella velella and a piece of wood on Kehoe Beach. Note the egg tooth present on the tip of all three chicks' bills. The egg tooth is used by chicks to help hatch out of their egg and falls off withing roughly 24 hours after hatching.
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
Two snowy plover chicks and one snowy plover egg in a nest bowl in the Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area protected by a mini predator exclosure (ME). The nest bowl is lined with small pebbles, woody debris, and surrounded by beach morning glory (Calystegia soldanella).
Photo credit: © Parker Kaye / PRNSA
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