Say hello to Nagamo (Na-GA-mo), the sole surviving piping plover hatchling at Montrose Beach.

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.

Chicago’s piping plover monitors are mourning the loss of one of the recently hatched chicks at Montrose Beach. Parents Imani and Searocket are watching over the remaining three.

Only one egg had initially been reported at the end of May, but now monitors say Imani and Sea Rocket are incubating a full clutch of four eggs.

The egg is the product of a recent pair bond between native-born Imani, who hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, and Searocket, one of the 5-week-old captive-reared piping plover chicks released at the beach last year.

Chicago’s own Imani has been joined by at least two other plovers, one believed to be a female. Let the mating games begin.

Imani is the son of Chicago's beloved late piping plover lovebirds, Monty and Rose.

The Park District Board of Commissioners voted Wednesday to rename the plovers’ Montrose Beach meeting spot the Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat.

Three endangered piping plover chicks were released into the wild Wednesday at a protected site at Montrose Beach in an effort to aid in its species recovery. It marks the first time plovers have been released in the state.

Piping plovers might not be on the nest in Chicago this year, but 2023 is shaping up as a banner breeding year for the birds across the Great Lakes.

The two unidentified plovers — one male, one female — that had joined Imani at Montrose have flown the coop, temporarily dashing the hopes of plover monitors for a love match and successful nesting season in Chicago.

There’s a love triangle brewing at Montrose Beach, where Imani the piping plover has been joined by a mystery bachelor and … a female.

Chicago’s birders are celebrating the arrival of Imani at Montrose Beach. The piping plover is a 2021 chick of Monty and Rose.

The beloved duo live on in limestone, their instantly recognizable images carved into a block of the rock wall that separates the dunes from an adjacent paved path. They now join the thousands of modern-day “petroglyphs” that date back to at least the 1930s.

Some people are concerned about what they say are deteriorating conditions at the high-quality habitat where the endangered plovers Monty and Rose raised their three successive broods of chicks between 2019 and 2021. 

On Wednesday evening, a memorial was held for the beloved piping plovers Monty and Rose, not so much to mourn the loss of the birds but to celebrate the wonder of their time in Chicago.