Overview
Hello Ploverites!
Over the last week our second round of snowy plover nesting has really gone into full swing—four new nests were found between North Beach and Abbotts Lagoon (bringing our total to 18 for the year in this area) and another at Kehoe Beach (the eighth for this site). After losing nests earlier this month, it's common to see the birds rebound like this. Some have repaired with the same mate they started the season with, while others are trying things out with a new partner. Either way, we hope they have more success this go around (and no more crazy windstorms)!
I suppose the most exciting news of the week is that we have five chicks that made it through the long [Memorial Day] weekend! Last Sunday and Monday saw two nests hatch out at Limantour Beach and all the chicks were found foraging around on Tuesday morning. Two of the chicks were banded by a biologist from Point Blue Conservation Science, making it much easier to figure out what nest the birds came from. As a reminder, once the nest hatches, the chicks are quickly mobile and are running and feeding on their own within a couple hours of hatching! The adult male of the nest is the sole caretaker of the hatchlings for approximately 28 days until the chicks fledge; the adult female departs and seeks another mate to establish a new nest. Based on activity we observed Tuesday morning, there should be at least one, maybe two more nests out at Limantour in no time.
Two of these birds that could potentially have a nest at Limantour soon are ones I have personally known for a long time: black over orange on the left leg, yellow over blue on the right leg (ko:yb) and white over brown on the left leg, orange over blue on the right leg (wn:ob). Both birds hatched out from nests on salt ponds in the South Bay Area and male ko:yb is known to nest in the seashore (since 2020!). Female wn:ob recently had a nest hatch on a salt pond in the South Bay, so it would be an exciting situation if she also decides to nest on the coast this year! It's amazing to see the connectivity between plover populations across the range.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 37 total nests this season
- 14 active nest
- 5 hatched
- 18 failed nests
- 5 chicks on PRNS beaches
- 0 chicks fledged
A snowy plover chick banded white over brown on the left leg and orange over blue on the right leg (wn:ob). This chick was banded in July 2024 by the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory at the nest on a salt pond at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, CA. In 2025, she has been confirmed to have hatched a nest on a salt pond in the Warm Springs Unit of Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge and is now paired up with a male on Limantour Beach.
Photo credit: © Josh Scullen / San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory
A freshly hatched snowy plover chick and two eggs in the process of hatching, Limantour Beach.
Photo credit: © Carleton Eyster / Point Blue Conservation Science
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