Science & Nature
First Piping Plovers Have Landed at Montrose Beach, Birders Welcome Imani and Pippin Home to Chicago
Imani with his 2024 offspring Nagamo, at Montrose Beach. (Courtesy of Chicago Piping Plovers)
Piping plover season has officially begun in Chicago with the return of a pair of favorite sons.
Yes, the boys are back in town as the year’s first endangered piping plovers have landed at Montrose Beach, the group Chicago Piping Plovers reported Monday.
Once again, early bird honors go to Pippin, the unlucky-in-love bachelor who’s marking his third year at Montrose in search of a mate. Shortly after monitors confirmed Pippin's presence, they clocked the arrival of Imani, who hatched at Montrose in 2021.
“Imani and Pipping are already right back at scrapping with each other to establish territory,” plover monitors said.
According to Chicago Piping Plovers, Pippin is missing his right foot, which observers had noted was tangled in debris last year.
“He has a slight limp, but otherwise appears healthy, strong and is working the beach like he owns it,” the group shared on social media.
Now the wait is on for Imani's mate Searocket — the pair have successfully reared chicks two years running. Plover watchers will be on the lookout for any of the couple's offspring — Nagamo (2024) or Bean and El (2025) — and are also hopeful and potential love interest shows up for Pippin.
Lake County Audubon is also anticipating the return of Blaze and Pepper to Waukegan, where the birds have nested since 2024.
Most plovers spend the winter in Florida or the gulf coast of Texas.
To catch folks up on Chicago’s plover history:
Chicago’s love affair with piping plovers began in 2019, when Monty and Rose became the first pair to nest in Cook County in more than 70 years. The couple’s legend only grew when they returned to Montrose Beach in 2020 and 2021, successfully fledging chicks three years in a row.
Rose failed to return in 2022 and that same spring, Monty died of a fungal respiratory infection. Imani is their only surviving chick.
The Great Lakes piping plover was once down to fewer than 20 breeding pairs. Thanks to conservation efforts, that number has rebounded to nearly 90 pairs in 2025, though that figure is still well short of the recovery goal of 150 nesting pairs.
This article has been updated to reflect the arrival of Imani.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
