Science & Nature
Eggs-tra, Eggs-tra! Piping Plover Chicks Hatch at Montrose Beach
Imani at Montrose Beach in 2023. (Matthew Dolkart)
Three eggs of piping plovers Imani and Sea Rocket hatched as of Friday at Montrose Beach, according to monitoring group Chicago Piping Plovers.
“The day we have waited for, worked for has come!” the group posted on social media. While the group on Friday said four eggs hatched, the plover monitors issued a correction Saturday stating three of four eggs had hatched. The monitors, based on the birds’ behavior, do not think the fourth egg is viable.
This is Imani and Sea Rocket’s second year breeding at Montrose Beach. In 2024, they hatched four chicks. Just one, Nagamo, survived.
The duo aren’t the only new parents — four plover chicks recently hatched in Waukegan.
Plover chicks are precocial, meaning they can walk and forage for themselves within hours of hatching. However, they can’t regulate their temperature, so they rely on their parents for warmth.
2025 has been a record-breaking year for piping plover nesting, with 82 breeding pairs counted, according to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort.
Still to add to that statistic is Pippin, the bachelor plover at Montrose Beach.
Monitors ask that visitors give the chicks space for their safety.
Note: This article has been updated to reflect the number of eggs that hatched.
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock | [email protected]
