Endangered shorebirds lose 2 chicks at Chicago beachfront

CHICAGO (AP) - Two endangered shorebirds that birding enthusiasts have tracked for years along a Chicago beachfront have lost two chicks in their second nesting setback this year.

Two of the piping plovers' four chicks recently vanished from Montrose Beach Dunes and are presumed dead, said Louise Clemency, a field supervisor for the Chicago office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The chicks were likely taken by predators that frequent the area, such as hawks or falcons, she told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Clemency said volunteers tried to monitor all four chicks as they became 'œmore mobile and adventuresome" and began using different parts of the habitat, but that's a difficult task.

The nesting pair, known as Monty and Rose, produced four eggs earlier this year. But in early June a skunk ate all four eggs by reaching through the nest's protective wire enclosure.

The birds soon produced four more eggs, one of which was hatched by staff at the Lincoln Park Zoo when the pair neglected it after their three other eggs hatched. The birds quickly accepted that hatchling after it was returned to the nest site, and that chick is one of the two surviving offspring.

The loss of two of the chicks is not unexpected, said Judy Pollock, president of the Chicago Audubon Society.

'œThere are so many dangers to these little birds,'ť she said. 'œIf these two make it, Monty and Rose will already be beating the odds.'ť