Tweet this: Rare birds moved from Chicago to Mich.

A trio of rare shore birds has said bye-bye to the Windy City and hello to Michigan.

Three piping plover chicks rescued from a nest along a remote northern Illinois shoreline have been released at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Michigan.

Wildlife officials say a pair of the endangered birds tended four eggs this summer, but apparently got spooked and abandoned the nest -- the first piping plover nest found in Illinois in 30 years.

Three of the eggs hatched in incubators at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo.

Officials say the chicks, released Friday, represent renewed hope for the species' recovery. There are 70 known breeding pairs in the Great Lakes this summer.

It's hoped the newcomers will mingle with other plovers before flying south this fall.

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