Science & Nature
Second Piping Plover Chick Dies at Montrose: ‘Rough Few Days, To Say the Least’
Piping plover parent and chick at Montrose Beach, July 2024. (Courtesy of Chicago Piping Plover Watch)
Less than two weeks after celebrating the hatching of four endangered piping plover chicks at Montrose Beach, Chicago is mourning the loss of two of the little ones.
“Rough few days, to say the least,” Chicago Piping Plovers monitors shared on social media.
On Friday, monitors provided more detail on the timeline of events:
One of the four chicks went missing Tuesday and was found dead on the protected section of beach Wednesday.
“A growth was noted on the side of its neck. The chick was taken to the Lincoln Park Zoo for necropsy,” monitors said.
On Thursday, a second chick appeared to be lethargic and struggling, and with the permission of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the chick was taken to Lincoln Park Zoo for examination and treatment.
“There were no signs of external or internal injuries or illness,” monitors said. “The chick was provided warmth, oxygen and fluids, but sadly passed away during the night.”
”We mourn the passing of these two chicks who had endeared themselves to us for the 10 short days they were with us,” monitors added.
A piping plover monitor on duty at Montrose Beach, July 12, 2024. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
A team of field biologists from the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort arrived at Montrose on Friday morning, along with representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Piping Plovers.
The two surviving chicks were captured for banding and examined by a veterinarian. Neither chick showed signs of injury or illness, and both were later observed roaming the protected beach and foraging.
“Chicago Piping Plovers and all its agency and birding society partners are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support and love they have received in the past few days,” the group said. “We continue to be focused on the safety and wellbeing of the surviving chicks.”
The chicks are the first brood for parents Imani and Searocket. Imani hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, the son of famed piping plovers Monty and Rose, who were the first pair to successfully breed in Chicago in more than 70 years. Searocket, a captive-reared plover, was released at Montrose in the summer of 2023.
Great Lakes Piping Plovers are the subject of intense recovery efforts, their population having plummeted at one point to just a dozen breeding pairs. In recent years, that number has rebounded to closer to 80, which is still far short of the recovery goal of 150 pairs.
Contact Patty Wetli: @pattywetli | (773) 509-5623 | [email protected]
