NYC Plover Project

@nycploverproject.bsky.social

New Yorkers working to fiercely protect endangered Piping Plovers & other shorebirds nesting on our city’s beaches • join us to #protecttheplovers • all the links: https://linktr.ee/nycploverproject

Piping Plover chicks & fledglings from Breezy Point to Far Rockaway have us jumping for joy. Give them & their families plenty of space, no 🐕, follow posted rules & carry out your trash! Thank you! Together we will defend & protect NYC’s endangered species! 📷: Benjamin Forbes 🎶: House of Pain

It’s World Migratory Bird Day, & as many mark the occasion by looking at birds, here’s to the birds as they look at us. Spending time w/ plovers, we see these intelligent sentient beings examining us, which helps us to understand & respect our place in their world and not just the other way around.

Small white and gray, with black brow & collar, Piping Plover on sandy beach, amidst green beach grass

They are New Yorkers too! And, we must do everything we can to protect this intrepid endangered species. Here’s a few important tips: Please no dogs on New York City beaches - or any beaches where Piping Plovers & other beach-nesting birds nest; no kites or drones; & no e-bikes.

Small gray & white Piping Plover, with orange legs and a black and orange beak, sits atop shell-covered beach slope with Brooklyn and Manhattan skyline and outline of the Empire State Building, and soft clouds above, against light blue sky

Your voices have been heard! The vote has been pulled for today. Thousands of calls were placed to urge representatives to vote NO on this pro-extinction bill - HR 1897. This is a massive win for endangered species & wildlife BUT it could come back again so we must keep thr pressure on.

Piping Plover chick walking on a beach.

Happy 5th Anniversary, NYC Plover Project! ❤️ In March 2021, we were an Instagram account with a few followers & a dream. A dream, and a promise, to protect this intrepid endangered species - every bit New Yorker as the rest of us - with all our might. This plover was our first post.

Photo of a piping plover on a beach, buff gray back and wings, with white undersides. Orange legs and beak with the tip of the beak, black. A black collar matches and black brow & large jewel black eyes.

Snow ❄️ is coming to NYC & much of the nation … but so are the plovers! In less than two months, the first Piping Plovers will appear on our NYC beaches. While we love the ❄️, many of us are already busy planning & getting ready for the VIPs’ arrivals!

Single Piping Plover running on the sand amidst sea foam from a wave and a light blue backdrop of ocean water

Sanderlings! This remarkable bird is a true long-distance athlete- some flying 6,000 miles each way on migration. Resilient, fierce & cold defiant, you may see them running in flocks at the water’s edge. And no, (again), they aren’t plovers! 😉

Single white and grey Sanderling on a ridged tidal flat Two sanderlings - white and gray, with one preening the other’s head, in a shallow tidal poolOne white and gray sanderling looking back at the camera on a sandy beach covered with broken shells Range map for Sanderling from Cornell Ornithology Lab showing the breeding ground in Northern Canada, a large geographic area showing migration grounds across U.S. and Canada, and a narrow band of coastline across the Atlantic and Gulf coasts showing wintering / non breeding range

Piping Plover parents share incubating & chick rearing duties, watching & protecting their young ones around the clock. This family lived on the busy beaches of Breezy Point Tip. Only one of their brood survived to become a fledgling. We are working hard with NYC Parks & National Park Service …

Our final ask. Thank you to everyone who has given, and for those who have not, it is not too late. This past year, we saw threats to plovers from our beaches to the halls of Congress. Our work has never been more urgent. If you are on the fence about giving, now is the time.

Piping Plover on the ridge of a beach, with broken shells, dried seaweed and straw, looking at the camera; the Coney Island boardwalk and buildings in the background, with the top of the Verrazzano Bridge also visibile

Fifty-two years ago, President Richard Nixon signed into law the most important wildlife protection law in the world. The Endangered Species Act works, having saved 99% of the species under its protection from extinction. It is also extremely popular, w/ 9 out of 10 Americans supporting the law.

Piping Plover on a beach with people in the background

A pair of Sanderlings fly together in the ❄️ over the icy-cold surf at Breezy Point. Often confused with Piping Plovers, Sanderlings hang in flocks and run quickly back and forth with the waves. They are also on our city beaches in the winter months, while plovers are not.

Pair of Sanderlings overlap one another in flight in the snow above the waves of the Atlantic

Thank you to everyone who submitted comments these past days. Our fight to defend NYC’s endangered species is far from over. We will never give up on plovers. We will never give up on the Endangered Species Act. And, we know you’re with us every step of the way. We will not stop.

Two young Piping Plover chicks drinking rainwater from a clam shell on a sandy beach.

Because of your generosity, we met and exceeded our #GivingTuesday match and goal. Nearly 100 new donors gave to help support our work connecting w/ NYC public school children, diverse communities of our city, & scores of beach-going New Yorkers about the awesome shorebirds that call our city home.

Young Piping Plover chick inspecting a single frond of beach grass, at dawn, on a beach; with large letters “thank you” across the top, and the NYC Plover Project logo at bottom

Today and everyday, we share stories and images of the plovers that call New York City home. Please help us send a message to the world that this young Piping Plover — one of a population of no more than 8,000 globally — will never be alone.

Very young and tiny Piping Plover chick on a beach with a brilliant green and blue pastel background.