Piping Plovers, Meet Pip
 
About Me  Names Charadrius melodus Piping Plover Nickname: Pip Description I’m six and half inches long, and the color of dry sand, with sandy upper parts, narrow, incomplete black breast band, a stubby bill with a orange base and yellowish legs. Very cute! Pip’s Photo Album  My Baby Picture  In the nest with my brothers and sisters  My Favorite Foods  Marine Worms Crustaceans Beetles Fly Larvae Mollusks Things That Scare Me or Even Worst Try to Eat Me!  Dogs, Cats, Skunks & Foxes Crows & Gulls Careless Humans with Jeeps, Kites, and Big Feet! Want to Learn More? www.fws.gov/northeast/pipinplover/ www.fws.gov/northest/njfieldoffice/ www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensphome.htm http://www.fws.gov/northeast/pipinplover/http://www.fws.gov/northest/njfieldoffice/http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/ensphome.htmshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2
 
Its All About Me! Hey, my name is Pip. I love Stone Harbor’s Point! In the picture above, I’m looking for my dinner, I do this by vibrating my foot to stir up all kinds of little goodies from the edge of the surf. This year I arrived on March 20 at the Point! Then I looked for a mate and following our courtship rituals, we formed a nest in a depression in the sand, decorating it with sea shell fragments. We’re trying hard to blend in with our surroundings, although this “blending in” skill is often our down fall, as humans will accidently step on our nest! My friends from NJDEP build fences around our homestead, to protect us, please stay on the outside of the fence! I like to build my nest low to the ground, sometimes a high tide can wipe out my home! Keep your fingers crossed for me that I will get lucky this year and the twenty five days for the babies to hatch will pass uneventfully. Then my mate and I will be proud parents of up to four babies! It will take another month to get the little ones ready to fly. So please be patient with us as we need to keep a little of the Point to all to ourselves for this process and to survive! I get all this special attention as I’m a Federally Threatened Species and a New Jersey Endangered Species. An endangered species is one, that is in immediate danger of becoming extinct. From 1999 to 2006 there were 71 piping plover nesting failures, 57% were lost to flooding, 28% were lost to predation from feral cats, dogs, foxes, etc., 5% were abandoned, 3% were blown over and the balance were undermined. About 67% hatched successfully. In 2006 17 pairs formed nests, 3 chicks fledged. In 2007 there are 16 nesting pairs and 6 chicks fledged! I’ll be back next spring, as Stone Harbor’s Point is too beautiful for words. I spend the winter father south anywhere from North Carolina to Florida, some of the family has even wintered in Bahamas. Pip I Nest at the Point
My friends protecting my nest area.
Please mind the signs!