As our population grows, we transform more land from wild, natural habitat to land that suits human needs. All along the West Coast, once remote pockets of shoreline have been developed into prime waterfront property. Beaches that once received only a few dozen visitors per week now host a few dozen per day. Our ideal places to live and play are unfortunately the only places to live for species adapted to these areas. One of those species is the western snowy plover, a small beige and white bird that breeds and feeds on America's favorite playground — the beach.
In 1962 Congress halted ongoing development of Point Reyes' beaches, legislating that the area was worth being "preserved and protected for future generations." While construction around beaches has dealt the single largest blow to snowy plover habitat and populations, proper care and management of remaining habitat will be the key to preventing extinction. With 80 miles of coastline protected from development within Point Reyes National Seashore, prime habitat is readily available to these threatened birds, but the success of the plovers is not that simple. Even if plover habitat is protected from development, it is still at risk of being smothered or altered by two introduced plant species intended to prevent sand movement.
While such habitat losses mostly cause plover declines, our seemingly benign beach activities also pose significant threats to plovers here at Point Reyes.
Beaches provide open spaces for us to relax and play but some things we love to do at the beach spell disaster for the snowy plover. Walking dogs or riding horses near nests flushes protective parents, leaving eggs and chicks exposed to wind, sand, cold, and predators. Food scraps left on beaches attract predators that would not have otherwise found the odorless, camouflaged eggs. Gulls, ravens, foxes, coyotes, dogs, feral cats, skunks, and raccoons are famous for developing feeding habits based on reckless human activity and often congregate where people go the most.
Able to learn and remember, some species become adept at plover hunting, having been lured to the beach by human food scraps. Even simply standing a stick in the sand as a flagpole can draw predators: the stick provides a perch for raptors that otherwise have no vantage points on barren beaches.
To make matters harder, Point Reyes beaches receive most human visitation during prime months of snowy plover breeding season -- mid-March through September. To emphasize the connection between visitation and chick losses, consider this finding from recent plover monitoring: chick losses on weekends increased by 150% over weekday losses.
While the list of difficulties may seem long there is yet some hope for the plovers. If eggs or chicks are lost, a breeding pair will renest and try again. A few days after chicks hatch, females leave their young in the care of the males, and start new nests with new mates. To increase breeding success, the National Park Service, Point Reyes Bird Observatory, and volunteers are using nest protection exclosures to prevent access by predators. Portions of known nesting sites on the beaches of Point Reyes National Seashore are protected by temporary closures.
With snowy plover habitat disappearing, Point Reyes National Seashore will be one of the places where the species' survival will be determined. Walking along Limantour Spit Trail you may notice rusting plumbing hook-ups of houses that were planned for the area, but never built — signs that the decision to preserve the habitat from development has already been made. What remains to be seen is whether or not we who enjoy the undeveloped landscape will decide to share the habitat with an original inhabitant — the western snowy plover.
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