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Conservation and Management
Effects Of Human Activity
Shooting And Trapping
Some trapping of this species for food is likely in Guyana (G. Morrison pers. comm.).
Pesticides And Other Contaminants/Toxics
Level of PCBs in fat is 0.77 ppm of lipid; relatively low compared to other species of shorebird (Napolitano et al. 1992). Hydrocarbons were below detectable levels. DDT and DDE levels, however, varied, but were high in 2 individuals tested, perhaps owing to differences in diet (more polychaetes and insects eaten; Napolitano et al. 1992). More study needed.
Ingestion Of Plastics, Lead, Etc
Not known.
Collisions With Stationary/Moving Structures Or Objects
At Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, VA, a few individuals fly into overhead wires each year; 1 bird found decapitated (EN). In Churchill, Manitoba, gravel excavation trucks bulldoze nests (D. Giesbrecht pers. comm.).
Degradation Of Habitat
Breeding habitat generally is stable in sub-Arctic; not known how degradation of coastal marshes affects invertebrate prey of plovers, but may increase plovers’ nesting habitat (EN). Coastal wintering habitat in South America is fairly remote from human population centers.
Disturbance At Nest And Roost Sites
Relatively tolerant of disturbance up to 30 m from nest. Returns quickly to nest after human disturbance. In Churchill, Manitoba, photographers frequently harass nesting Semipalmated Plovers, and these activities at nest are sometimes followed by nest predation. In addition, at 2 nest sites in Churchill—1 directly outside a house with people often coming and going, the other frequently harassed by photographers—eggs have been damaged presumably by parent jumping suddenly off nest. The 2 resulting chicks had leg deformities and did not survive. However, increases in road-building in Churchill appear to benefit Semipalmated Plovers by increasing availability of nesting habitat (EN).
Direct Human/Research Impacts
Increased levels of human-related disturbance did not appear to affect Semipalmated Plovers at Plymouth Beach, MA, probably because migration peaked after peak disturbance in this area. In addition, Semipalmated Plovers fed and rested mainly in back-beach area of Plymouth Beach, an area generally less disturbed by people (Pfister et al. 1992). Oil spill off coast of New Jersey, a stopover area for spring migrants, resulted in Semipalmated Plovers being disturbed more often during feeding by cleanup crews. Heavily oiled birds spent more time standing and preening and less time foraging than did less oiled birds (Burger 1997).
Management
Conservation Status
Not threatened or endangered in any part of range.
Measures Proposed And Taken
Protection of major migratory stopover sites continues through Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Additional site to be added: Boundary Bay, British Columbia.
Effectiveness Of Measures
On basis of the International Shorebird Survey, Semipalmated Plovers did not appear to be declining in number at stopover migration sites on eastern seaboard surveyed between 1972 and 1983 (Howe et al. 1989), nor during fall migration between 1974 and 1991 (Morrison et al. 1994). However, species is long-distance migrant that uses same migration routes year after year; like other shorebirds, it depends on staging areas along migration routes for food and rest (Myers et al. 1987). Thus, it may be pertinent in management objectives to provide key staging sites with resting and feeding areas free of human disturbance; high levels have been found to disturb shorebirds (Burger 1981). These staging areas must also be free of contaminants that can directly affect health or ability to forage or rest.
Nol, Erica and Michele S. Blanken. 1999. Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/444
