Group seeks volunteers to monitor this year's Piping Plovers
CHICAGO (WGN) — Calling all bird lovers: Chicago's piping plovers are in need of some volunteer monitors.
In a recent social media post, the organization Chicago Piping Plovers put a call-out for volunteers to monitor this year's resting and nesting season at Montrose Beach. The organization will provide those interested with the training they'll need. Volunteers just need to supply a pair of binoculars and a cell phone.
The volunteer monitors observe and protect parents, nests and chicks.
Current available shifts are Tuesdays and Thursday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Those interested should send an email to piperwatch@chicagobirder.org.
The Piping Plover vanished from Chicago and Cook County in 1948. Nearly extinct from the region, the bird was declared federally endangered in the 1980s.
In 2019, a pair of Piping Plovers began nesting at Montrose Beach. Dubbed Monty and Rose, the pair returned in 2020 and in 2021. Both passed away in 2022. Their native-born son, Imani, mated with a captive-reared Plover, Searocket, and had four chicks. Three of them passed away within a couple of weeks.
How the story of two little birds captivated Chicago
Great Lakes Piping Plovers are an endangered species and are federally protected by the Endangered Species Act.
Chicago Piping Plovers is a joint collaboration between the Chicago Bird Alliance, the Chicago Ornithological Society and the Illinois Ornithological Society.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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