The kids are alright: Lake County’s piping plover chicks nearing key milestone

While challenges lie ahead for three piping plover chicks hatched last week along Lake Michigan in Waukegan, the kids are doing all right, dedicated observers say.

That's a good sign for the comeback of the federally endangered shorebird, and evidence that conserving high-quality wetlands can benefit other imperiled species, observers say.

With fingers crossed, Carolyn Lueck, president of the Lake County Audubon Society and Sharing Our Shore — Waukegan, and volunteers have patiently been keeping tabs from a distance since the three little ones hatched as little fluff balls on Father's Day.

A fourth egg was in the plovers’ nest along a restricted stretch of shoreline, but that chick's fate is unknown.

The others are the offspring of Blaze and Pepper, a pair of plovers who were brought to the same beach as fledglings in 2023. They returned in mid-May to mate and raise chicks for a second consecutive year.

The chicks can walk, run and feed themselves within hours of hatching. They don't return to the nest but stay close, as they rely on their parents for a few weeks to keep them warm, dry and safe from predators, Lueck said.

They're reaching a milestone 10-day mark when they become more likely to survive.

“Every day, they're growing pretty rapidly,” Lueck said.

While things are going well, Lueck noted that nature is unpredictable. Mom soon will leave to forage in preparation for her southern migration later this year, and dad will follow a few weeks later. The chicks will stick around until mid-August.

The charismatic sand-colored birds disappeared from Illinois beaches in the mid-1950s. But with assistance from dedicated volunteers and agencies, they’re making a slow comeback in the Great Lakes region, with most of the 30 confirmed pairs settling in northern Michigan.

Monty and Rose, another piping plover pair, began nesting at Montrose Beach in Chicago in 2019 but died a few years ago. Their son, Imani, and his mate, Sea Rocket, welcomed three chicks at Montrose last week.

Piping plovers, Lueck said, are the poster species for the need to protect and restore fragile Great Lakes dune ecosystems. Having two nests in Illinois is “pretty spectacular,” she added.

Sharing Our Shore, a partnership with the city of Waukegan that provides outreach and educational programs, is gaining momentum and plovers are becoming better known, according to Lueck.

Their image is on city vehicle stickers and a mural at the Waukegan Public Library, and people often ask Lueck how the little birds are doing.

“The piping plovers,” Lueck said, “are definitely becoming a part of Lake County's identity and Waukegan's identity.”