12-04-2025
Piping Plovers spotted at Montrose Beach
CHICAGO – They're back!
Two Piping Plovers were spotted at Montrose Beach Friday afternoon.
Chicago Piping Plovers confirmed one of the birds is Pippin, while the birding community believes the other is Uncle Larry out of Michigan.
The Plovers annual arrival comes earlier than years past. They may be sticking around for summer or just stopping over en route to their usual breeding territory.
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.
SEE ALSO: Group seeks volunteers to monitor this year's Piping Plovers
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.
WGN-TV is still waiting on word of sightings of Monty and Rose's son Imani and grandchild Nagamo.
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.
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