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Endangered Piping Plovers Continue to Nest on New Hampshire Beaches

A piping plover chick walking on the sand
Eva Powers
/
New Hampshire Fish and Game

Six pairs of piping plovers are nesting on the beaches of Hampton and Seabrook this summer. The birds are endangered in New Hampshire. For years, state Fish and Game officials have been trying to bring them back. This year, they’re roping off nesting areas and hiring volunteers to monitor the nests.

Brendan Clifford, a biological technician of the New Hampshire Fish and Game’s Wildlife Division, says the plovers have met with some obstacles.

It has been a difficult year as five of the six pairs had to re-nest mostly due to high tides but also predation…We suspect that one nest in Seabrook was abandoned this spring because the birds were continually disturbed by people walking through roped-off areas.

Despite some interference, Clifford says that the public has generally been respectful. 

Most people respect the roped areas as we (NHFG) have been doing this since 1997...As of now we have had two pairs successfully fledge three chicks (able to fly) and two pairs are currently incubating eggs that could be hatching anytime now.

The piping plovers are small shorebirds that only breed in North America.

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