Science & Nature
Buddy, Frankie, Mavis and Tweedy: Chicago’s Newest Plover Chicks Named in Honor of City’s Famous Musicians
Newly hatched piping plover chicks at Montrose Beach, June 16, 2026. (Courtesy of Chicago Piping Plovers)
The four piping plover chicks that hatched this month at Montrose Beach will be singing a new tune now that they’ve been named in honor of famous Chicago musicians.
The Chicago Park District on Monday announced the winners of a naming contest for the chicks. They’ll now be known as Buddy, Frankie, Mavis and Tweedy, after Chicago’s celebrated musicians Buddy Guy, Frankie Knuckles, Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy.
“It seems fitting to name the chicks after musicians, as the scientific name of the Piping Plover is Charadrius melodus, referring to their melodious singing,” the Park District said in a statement. “The artists selected span generations of fans through multiple genres, and have moved the arc of music forward with their innovation and talent, becoming Chicago and worldwide icons.”
The selections come following a contest run by the Chicago Bird Alliance, the Chicago Ornithological Society and the Illinois Audubon Society, which sought names for the chicks that reflect Chicago’s heritage, culture and diversity.
For reference, the names chosen for 2025’s chicks were Ferris, El and Bean. In previous years, winning names included Esperanza, Hazel, Nagamo and Nish.
The groups received 456 submissions and over 1,500 unique name ideas, according to the Park District, and the final selection was made with the help of a panel or representatives from area nature organizations.
The chicks will be identifiable by unique combinations of leg bands: Buddy received X,O:-,V (Blue Star), Frankie received X,O:-,V (Red Star), Mavis received X,O:-,V (Yellow Star), and Tweedy received X,O:-,V (Green Star).
The chicks’ father, Imani, hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021 and is the last surviving chick of Monty and Rose, who in 2019 became the first piping plover pair to successfully breed in Chicago and Cook County since 1948.
This is the third year Imani and mate Sea Rocket have hatched chicks at Montrose. Along with piping plovers nesting in Waukegan, they’re the only breeding pairs in Illinois, with the vast majority of the endangered Great Lakes piping plover population clustered near Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan.
Patty Wetli contributed to this report.
