Happy News for This Rare Bird

For the second year in a row, Piping Plovers have had a record nesting year in Massachusetts, coming back from the brink of extinction.

“Piping Plovers were on the brink of extinction in Massachusetts, and now, through collaborative partnerships and strategic conservation strategies, this is a species recovering at an encouraging rate,” says Lyra Brennan, program director at Mass Audubon Coastal.

Since the Coastal Waterbird Program launch at Mass Audubon in 1986, conservation activities have taken place at local, state, and federal levels to monitor and protect vulnerable beach-nesting birds. Around this time, only 200 pairs of breeding Piper Plovers existed in Massachusetts. Today, 1,196 nesting pairs have been recorded, a 500 percent jump since the program began and a 1.5 percent increase over 2023, which previously held the record. Other vulnerable seabirds are also showing conservation success under the program. “Long-term investments in coastal communities and implementing a combination of wildlife management, science-based conservation, policy development, and education is paying off,” adds Brennan.