Science & Nature

Meet Ferris, Bean and El. Chicago’s Piping Plover Chicks Receive Names Fit for City’s Newest Icons

The names for Chicago’s three piping plover chicks were revealed Sunday, and they’re instantly iconic.

The chicks formerly known by the colors of their leg bands — Blue Star, Red Star and Green Star — are now officially Ferris, El and Bean.

The announcement was made by Chicago Piping Plovers via social media and was timed to coincide with the chicks’ fledge day, when they’re capable of flight.

The names were chosen from 526 entries in a contest, with each winner submitted by multiple people.

“This year, the names represent iconic Chicago landmarks woven into the city’s fabric and known to all visitors of our beloved city and community,” Chicago Piping Plovers said. “The names are lighthearted and by carrying them, your Chicago piping plover chicks will be ambassadors for our city.”

Here’s a little meaning behind each name.

— Ferris is a nod to both the Ferris Wheel, which debuted at Chicago’s famed World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893, and the title character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

The name suits the former Blue Star, “who has shown an independent, adventurous spirit, roaming far and wide on the beach,” according to Chicago Piping Plovers.

— Red Star is now El, for Chicago’s elevated transit system.

“Just like our piping plover family at Montrose, the El connects the city of Chicago, its surrounding suburbs, and the community it serves,” Chicago Piping Plovers said.

— Bean is a reference to the nickname for Cloud Gate, Anish Kapoor’s sculpture in Millennium Park, which attracts locals and visitors from around the world.

“Its reflective surface captures and transforms the surrounding city skyline,” Chicago Piping Plovers said. “This name is a great fit for Green Star who hatched a few hours later than their siblings and is ever so slightly smaller than the other two.”

The chicks hatched in late June at Montrose Beach, the second brood for parents Imani (also born at Montrose) and his mate Sea Rocket. In 2024, only one of the pair’s chicks survived to fledge.

Piping plover chicks are precocial, meaning they can walk and forage for themselves within hours of hatching. But their small size, particularly relative to other shore birds, leaves them vulnerable to predators, including gulls.

Imani and Sea Rocket have been working overtime to help fend off potential threats, with help from a team of volunteer plover monitors.

 

A little further north, the two surviving plover chicks that hatched on a private beach in Waukegan have also been declared officially fledged. No names have been announced for these offspring of Blaze and Pepper. 

For the history of the plovers in Chicago, check out our latest WTTW News Explains: What’s the Story Behind Chicago’s Piping Plovers?

Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]

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