PRESS ADVISORY

Two Orphaned Piping Plovers Chicks from New Hampshire Released in Scarborough

SCARBOROUGH, Maine, August 10, 2005

Today at Scarborough Beach, Maine Audubon, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and New Hampshire Fish and Game released two endangered piping plover chicks that were orphaned in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

The chicks were orphaned the day after they hatched in mid July when their male parent was killed by a feral cat and their female parent died shortly afterwards, presumably from injuries inflicted by a cat. There is a feral cat feeding station near the beach where the birds were injured.

The three orphaned chicks and their injured mother were brought by New Hampshire Fish and Game piping plover monitor Brendan Clifford to the Center for Wildlife in York, Maine, the rehabilitation facility closest to the nesting site. The female and one chick died overnight; the two surviving chicks were taken the next day to a rehabilitation specialist in Bridgton, Maine, where they have been since.

“Biologists usually avoid keeping piping plover chicks in captivity because their best chance for survival is when they’re reared by other piping plovers,” said Jody Jones, coordinator of Maine Audubon’s Piping Plover Recovery Project, “but this was a unique situation and we all felt the chicks deserved a second chance after losing both their parents.”

Biologists chose Scarborough Beach as the release site since it is less crowded than New Hampshire sites and has several fledglings that can serve as “role models” for the orphaned chicks.

“We took the birds to Maine because the beaches in New Hampshire are just too crowded to hope for successful fledglings,” said Clifford. “And without other piping plovers around, the chicks would not have been able to learn important natural behaviors before their journey south.”

When released, the two orphaned chicks were immediately joined by a Scarborough Beach chick and began feeding, preening and flying.

Editors/Reporters: We have several great photos of the release; if you're interested, reply to this e-mail or call (207) 781-2330, ext. 241.

Maine Audubon has worked for nearly 25 years to restore Maine’s piping plover population, which has risen from 10 pairs when recovery efforts began in 1981 to 55 pairs in 2004. The organization brings together towns, private landowners, volunteers, wildlife agencies and others to locate, monitor and erect fencing to protect plover nests as well as conduct outreach about the birds, which are threatened primarily by habitat loss but also by dogs and predators such as gulls and crows.

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