meet a shorebird

western snowy plover

Western Snowy Plovers are migratory shorebirds living and breeding on the flat, sandy beaches from Baja all the way up the northern Pacific coast.

My first encounter with a snowy plover was on the beach in Pacifica, California. I didn’t see the bird, but rather learned of their existance from a series of informative plaques created by students for a school project. It could be the snowy plover’s declining population size or their camouflage — but I still haven’t seen one in the wild!

One of the largest threats to western snowy plovers is coastal erosion. Sea level rise and human inhabitants are shrinking the natural habitats and vegetation that these birds need to thrive.