Habitat

Loosely described as open sandy beaches, yet a variety of habitats provide appropriate sites. Birds observed in Northern Great Plains and Prairie Canada during 2001 census used the following habitat types: alkali lakes (34.3%), reservoirs (31.3%), rivers (19.7%), freshwater lakes (7.6%), dry alkali lakes (2.4%), sandpits (2.3%), industrial ponds (0.4%), and gravel mines (0.1%; Haig et al. in press). Generally, favor wide, sparsely vegetated sand or gravel beaches adjacent to vast alkali lakes such as Big Quill Lake, SK, or West Shoal Lake, MB. (Whyte 1985, Haig and Oring 1988c). Birds may prefer nesting on gravel beaches than beaches with lower gravel content (Espie et al. 1996). They also use washed-out hillside beaches on smaller semipermanent alkali wetlands such as John D. Williams Preserve (Chain of Lakes) in central North Dakota (Prindiville Gaines and Ryan 1988, Weber and Martin 1991). Areas adjacent to these are pastures or rangeland consisting of mid- or short-grass prairie. Here, they nest in close proximity to Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), Spotted Sandpipers (Actitis macularia), and American Avocets (Recurvirostra americana), but generally in more exposed, less-vegetated, more-graveled microhabitats (Prindiville Gaines and Ryan 1988, Mayer and Ryan 1991a).

On rivers, Piping Plovers use beaches, sandflats, dredge islands, and drained river floodplains where vegetative cover is usually less than 20% (Haig 1986, Schwalbach 1988, Sidle and Kirsch 1993). Natural islands occur midstream in wide, open-channel beds, while spoil islands created by sand and gravel mining operations are located adjacent to the river. Habitat on large inland lakes (e.g., Lake Winnipeg, MB; Lake of the Woods, MN; Great Lakes) and on Atlantic beaches is sparsely vegetated open sand, gravel, or cobble, frequently adjacent to sand dunes (Haig 1986, Brown 1987, Burger 1987, Wemmer 2000, Wemmer et al. 2001). During the 2001 census of Atlantic states and provinces, birds were observed in the following habitat types: barrier islands (39.2%), ocean fronts (37.1%), bays (11.6%), sand bars (2.2%), spoil islands (1.4%), tidal creeks/marshes (1.2%), peninsulas (1.0%), reservoirs (0.2%), brackish lakes (0.1%), rivers (0.1%) and industrial ponds (<0.1%; Haig et al. in press). Birds using large lakes, rivers, or coastal beaches frequently place nests in or near Least Tern (Sterna antillarum), Common Tern (S . hirundo), or Arctic Tern (S . paradisaea) colonies (Cairns 1977, Burger 1987, Schwalbach 1988). On Atlantic Coast, areas with access to ephemeral pools, salt-pond, or bay habitat preferred and may result in increased fledging success for beach nesting birds (Loegering and Fraser 1995, Goldin and Regosin 1998, Elias et al. 2000).

Beaches and alkali flats preferred. Reservoir shoreline was the most common habitat reported in published migration records from the interior U.S., but birds also stopped at natural lakes, rivers, marsh wetlands, industrial ponds and fish farms. Site visits suggest substrate type is predominantly mudflat; habitat availability strongly related to water management and local precipitation (V. Pompei pers. comm.).

Beaches, mudflats, and sandflats along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts (Haig and Oring 1985, Johnson and Baldassarre 1988, Nicholls and Baldassarre 1990b). Also barrier island beaches and spoil islands on the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway. On both Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, birds are frequently associated with bays, lagoons and inlets (Wilkinson and Spinks 1994, Sprandel et al. 2000, Zonick 2000, Drake et al. 2001, Mabee et al. 2001). Habitat on bay shores of Texas preferred over ocean beaches (Zonick 2000, Drake et al. 2001). At South Padre Is., TX, telemetry results indicate habitat use as follows: bay shore (Laguna Madre) sandflats (58.7%), bay shore algal flats (29.8 %), mainland mudflat (5.6%), island washover areas (3.9%), and dredge placement areas (2.1%). Although birds used ocean beach habitat occasionally during fall and spring (7.0% and 1.3% respectively), beaches were not used during winter (Drake et al. 2001). Winter 2001 census observations were in the following habitat type: mudflats (36.3%), sandy beaches (33.2%), sand/salt flats (23.1%) algal mats (2.8%), oyster reefs (1.0%) and gravel shores (0.1%; Haig et al. in press) Closely related species occupying same winter habitats include: Sanderlings (Calidris alba), Least Sandpipers (C . minutilla), Western Sandpipers (C . mauri), Semipalmated Plovers, Snowy Plovers, Wilson’s Plovers, and Collared Plovers (Nicholls and Baldassarre 1990b, J. Stucker pers. comm., SMH).