Piping Plover - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Piping Plover - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Piping Plover - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
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Table WM1. Results of the 1991, 1996, 2001, <strong>and</strong> 2006 International <strong>Piping</strong> <strong>Plover</strong><br />
Winter Censuses (Haig et al. 2005, Elliott-Smith et al. 2009).<br />
Location 1991 1996 2001 2006<br />
Virginia not surveyed (ns) ns ns 1<br />
North Carolina 20 50 87 84<br />
South Carolina 51 78 78 100<br />
Georgia 37 124 111 212<br />
Florida 551 375 416 454<br />
-Atlantic 70 31 111 133<br />
-Gulf 481 344 305 321<br />
Alabama 12 31 30 29<br />
Mississippi 59 27 18 78<br />
Louisiana 750 398 511 226<br />
Texas 1,904 1,333 1,042 2,090<br />
Puerto Rico 0 0 6 Ns<br />
U.S. Total 3,384 2,416 2,299 3,355<br />
Mexico 27 16 Ns 76<br />
Bahamas 29 17 35 417<br />
Cuba 11 66 55 89<br />
Other Caribbean<br />
0 0 0 28<br />
Isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
GRAND TOTAL<br />
Percent of Total<br />
3,451 2,515 2,389 3,884<br />
International <strong>Piping</strong><br />
<strong>Plover</strong> Breeding<br />
Census<br />
62.9% 42.4% 40.2% 48.2%<br />
their wintering distribution in a given area (see Figure WM1; see also the related<br />
discussion below). Major opportunities to locate previously unidentified wintering sites<br />
are concentrated in the Caribbean <strong>and</strong> Mexico (see pertinent sections in Elliott-Smith et<br />
al. 2009). Further surveys <strong>and</strong> assessment of seasonally emergent habitats (e.g., seagrass<br />
beds, mudflats, oyster reefs) within bays lying between the mainl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> barrier isl<strong>and</strong>s<br />
in Texas are also needed.<br />
Mid-winter surveys may substantially underestimate the abundance of nonbreeding<br />
piping plovers using a site or region during other months. In late September 2007, 104<br />
piping plovers were counted at the south end of Ocracoke Isl<strong>and</strong>, North Carolina (NPS<br />
2007), where none were seen during the 2006 International <strong>Piping</strong> <strong>Plover</strong> Winter Census<br />
(Elliott-Smith et al. 2009). Noel et al. (2007) observed up to 100 piping plovers during<br />
peak migration at Little St. Simons Isl<strong>and</strong>, Georgia, where approximately 40 piping<br />
plovers wintered in 2003–2005. Differences among fall, winter, <strong>and</strong> spring counts in<br />
South Carolina were less pronounced, but inter-year fluctuations (e.g., 108 piping plovers<br />
in spring 2007 versus 174 piping plovers in spring 2008) at 28 sites were striking<br />
(Maddock et al. 2009). Even as far south as the Florida Panh<strong>and</strong>le, monthly counts at<br />
Phipps Preserve in Franklin County ranged from a mid-winter low of four piping plovers<br />
27
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