Snowy Plover, safe or endangered?
If you are from the eastern coast of the
United States, or frequent time at beaches
along the coast, you have probably heard of or
seen all the birds bouncing up and down the
beaches. One of those species is the Plover.
There are many different types of Plovers, but
one holds the special interest of Graduate
Student Maureen Durkin. It is the Snowy Plover.
What is a Snowy Plover?
Snowy Plovers are birds found along the
coast, specifically in the Florida Panhandle. They
feed on insects and other small invertebrates
found on beaches and in the very shallow waves
at the edge of the beach (Snowy Plover). When
Plovers are born they look like cotton balls, but
with age, their feathers turn brown on top.
How have humans affected them?
There has not been a study published
yet on the effect of humans in Snowy Plover
habitats, but Maureen Durkin is working on it.
Maureen is a graduate student operating under
Dr. Johnathan Cohen, a wildlife Ecology
professor at the State University of New York
College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
She works as an Ecology TA running labs and
assisting students, but her focus is her research
on Snowy Plovers on the Florida Panhandle. She
explores the Plover’s changing habitat due to
human development. She also observes
changes in the Plover’s development, feeding,
and incubating habits change based on
proximity to humans.
Research
Maureen has found that one of the best
places to research is on Military bases due to
the large amounts of generally undisturbed
land, which is used for drills. Birds are tagged so
they can be followed and observed. They are
not yet considered an endangered species, but
they are being watched so they do not become
endangered. This situation creates a unique
relationship between the Airforce base and
researchers as stated by Maureen, “You get a
lot of interesting research on bases…especially
if there is a federally listed species, it can
potentially impact their military exercises, so,
there is a lot of interest as far as bases. The goal
of bases is to manage in such a way that its not
going to effect to affect them…they want to
protect thigns so they do not get listed it is in
their best interest to have the shore birds do
well so they don’t get listed and have all these
restrictions, same ultimate goal with different
ways of getting there.
Snowy Plover, safe or endangered?