Cooperation in conservation: The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership
By Mary Bomberger Brown and Chris Thody
Picture a 30-ton, 30-foot-long front-end loader going
bucket to beak with a 2-ounce, 6-inch tall bird over a patch of glistening white
sand. Who’s going to win, the bird valiantly defending its nest or the person in
the front-end loader filling an order for a customer? Here in Nebraska, if the
bird is an Interior Least Tern or a Piping Plover and the front-end loader is at
a sand and gravel mine or lakeshore housing development, both can win. The Tern
and Plover Conservation Partnership is here to help all sides find a safe path
to success. We believe that Nebraskans can, and should, be at the forefront of
common sense conservation. Nebraskans and nature can live and thrive
together.
The two words “endangered species” may well stir up more
arguments than any other two words in the English language. Endangered species
are almost always the focus of conflict and controversy. Conflicts can be on a
local scale, such as interfering with an individual Whooping Crane, or on a much
broader scale, such as making decisions on how scarce water resources will be
used. Oftentimes decisions regarding endangered species are controversial and
leave bitterness and hard feelings in their wake; friends become adversaries in
the us-versus-them nature of endangered species conflicts.
The Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership believes that endangered species conflicts can be resolved amicably if we are willing to cooperate. It is a group of Nebraskans working with other Nebraskans to prevent and resolve conflicts between endangered species and people. The partnership devotes its attention to the Interior Least Terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos) and Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) nesting at sand and gravel mines, lakeshore housing developments and on river sandbars in Nebraska. The partnership includes all parties with an interest in the issue of tern and plover conservation in Nebraska. Our mission is to work proactively to find ways to help the birds do what they need to do and people do what they need to do during the nesting season without conflict.
The number of Interior Least Terns and Piping Plovers across the country has declined to such a point that their continued existence is in doubt. The primary reason for this decline is loss of nesting and over-wintering habitat. Terns are listed as endangered and plovers as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). Terns and plovers are also protected by the Nebraska Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act (NESCA) and the federal International Migratory Bird Treaty Act (IMBTA). The Nebraska Natural Legacy Program identified both terns and plovers as Tier 1 At-Risk Species.
The federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) says that all species that are in danger of extinction are of “esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific value to the Nation and its people.” The ESA also says that the natural resources of the entire country can and should be better protected, for the benefit of everyone. The purpose of the ESA is to “provide a means whereby the ecosystem upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved” [ESA Section 2 (b)].
The Nebraska Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act (NESCA) says that our nongame, threatened and endangered species need special protection and that it is in all of our best interests to protect those species through the preservation of their, and our, environment.
The federal International Migratory Bird Treaty Act says that all migratory birds (over 800 species), living or dead, and all their parts are fully protected by law.
All three acts state that “take” of any protected species is prohibited and is a violation of the law. But what exactly does “take” mean? “Take” means harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, collecting or attempting to engage in any of these activities. “Harass” means annoying animals to such an extent that their normal behavior is disrupted. “Harm” means killing or injuring animals; this can include modifying or degrading their habitat. The penalty imposed for criminal violation of these laws is $100,000 ($200,000 for a corporation), one year in prison or both per violation. The penalty imposed for civil violation of these laws is $25,000 per violation. In addition, all equipment or material used in the violation can be seized.
These definitions and penalties may seem harsh but, from the birds’ point of view, activities that appear inconsequential to us can have dire consequences for them.
All three acts also say that it is not only a matter of protecting the terns and plovers, it is a matter of protecting the places where they live. In Nebraska, that means our rivers. In Nebraska, terns and plovers prefer to nest on midstream river sandbars. Terns and plovers are looking for high, dry, non- or sparsely vegetated expanses of sand. However, because of changes to our rivers over the years and the associated changes to the river channel, bed and bank, there are fewer sandbars available of the sort that terns and plovers need for nesting. The sandbars that do exist are often overgrown with trees, shrubs and invasive weeds or may be overtopped by flooding. Due to a lack of appropriate sandbar nesting habitat, terns and plovers are now frequently nesting at human-created sites, such as sand and gravel mines and lakeshore housing developments.
The aggregate (sand and gravel) mining and real estate development industries are important parts of Nebraska’s economy. These industries provide jobs, homes for families and materials for use in other industries—they also provide great nesting habitat for terns and plovers. The sand spoil piles at sand and gravel mines and the sandy beaches at housing developments look like perfectly good sandbars to the birds. Every year terns and plovers place their nests at these human-created habitats.
Unfortunately, when people want to live, work and play in the same places where terns and plovers want to nest and raise their chicks, conflicts can develop. People, their pets or machinery operating near tern and plover nests can put the birds, their nests and their chicks in danger. Repeated or prolonged disturbances will keep the adult birds away from their nests, which puts the eggs and chicks in danger of overheating or chilling. Chicks may be killed by predators if there is no adult nearby to defend them. For nests on sandbars, the river acts as a moat, protecting them from this danger; nests at mines or housing developments don’t have that protection. At mines or housing developments, pets or feral dogs and cats often find and destroy nests, people on ATVs or in vehicles may run over nests and wakes from boats may wash over nests. If terns and plovers cannot find safe places to nest, their populations cannot grow to secure sizes, and they will remain on the endangered species list or, worse, become extinct.
The protection of Interior Least Terns, Piping Plovers and people in Nebraska has come a long way in the short time the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership has been around. In the 10 years the Partnership has been active, there have been no prosecutions for violation of any state or federal wildlife protection laws by any of our partners. By working proactively with us to help protect terns and plovers nesting on their property, the aggregate mining and housing development industries in Nebraska are making a significant, positive contribution to the recovery of these two legally protected species.
The partnership uses a variety of methods, including signs, to protect tern and plover nests. Typically, we circle the birds’ nesting area with signs. The message of the signs is clear; please keep out of the area while the birds are nesting. As soon as the birds are finished nesting and have left the area, we take down the signs and people can use the area as they choose. The terns and plovers agree with us when we say that letting them use an area for such a short period of time every year really isn’t too much to ask of people.
To protect ourselves and Nebraska’s Interior Least Terns and Piping Plovers, all we really need to do is cooperate, respect the birds and respect the law. It’s as easy as that.
Least Terns
(Sternula antillarum athalassos)
Least Terns are about the size of an American Robin, 8 inches from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail and 20 inches from wingtip to wingtip while flying. Their bodies are white, their wings light gray, their beaks yellow with a black tip and their legs yellow. The mark that distinguishes them from all other terns in Nebraska is a triangular, white forehead patch, located in between their eyes and the base of their beaks.
Terns arrive in Nebraska in mid-May and leave in early August. Least Terns usually cluster their nests into colonies, but sometimes will nest solitarily. They lay two or three eggs in a small cup-shaped depression in the sand. The eggs hatch in about three weeks, and the chicks are dependent on their parents for another three weeks. Adult terns defend their nests and young by dive-bombing intruders. Terns can live up to 20 years; the record is 24 years.
Piping Plovers
(Charadrius melodus)
Piping Plovers are about the size of a House Sparrow, 6 inches from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail and 15 inches from wingtip to wingtip while flying. Their bodies are sandy gray, their wings a slightly darker gray, their beaks orange with a black tip and their legs orange. The mark that distinguishes them from similar species is the single black band around their upper breast. Piping Plovers are often confused with Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). Killdeer are larger, darker brown in color, noisier and have two black bands around their upper breast.
Plovers arrive in Nebraska in mid-April and leave in late July. Piping Plovers are territorial and space their nests widely apart. Their nests are often found in tern colonies, so those nests have the extra benefit of the terns’ defensive behavior. Plovers lay four eggs in a cup-like depression in the sand. The eggs hatch after four weeks, and the young are dependent on their parents for about three weeks. Plovers defend their nests using a broken-wing act. While pretending to be injured, the parent lures the intruder away from the nest. Most plovers live about six years but may live as long as 11 years.
Historical accounts of terns and plovers in Nebraska
Interior Least Terns and Piping Plovers have been found all across Nebraska and the Great Plains for millennia. Terns and plovers were nesting on bare midstream sandbars in the Platte, Loup, Elkhorn, Niobrara and Missouri rivers well before people arrived in the region. Both species were familiar enough to Native Americans that there are words in their languages for terns and plovers.
Least Terns and Piping Plovers were among the first birds described by naturalists as they traveled across the continent during the expeditions of the 1800s. During their journey across the continent, Lewis and Clark reported seeing Least Terns in the area that later became Nebraska. In August 1804, in what is now Burt County, Lewis wrote that terns were more common there than on the portion of the Missouri River that they had already traveled. Least Terns were reported as nesting in the Engineer Cantonment area, near modern-day Omaha, around 1820. In 1823, German Duke Paul Wilhelm observed Least Terns near the confluence of the Platte and Missouri Rivers, in modern-day Cass County. In 1857, naturalist Ferdinand Hayden wrote about the Least Terns he observed along the Platte River near the Loup River confluence, in what is now Platte County, while he was traveling with the Warren Expedition. Physician-naturalist George Suckley reported finding Least Terns along the North Platte River east of Ash Hollow, in modern-day Keith County, while he was traveling with the United States Army Medical Corps in 1859. In the 1860s and 1870s, Least Terns were reported as being common in modern-day Dixon, Cedar, Sarpy and Lancaster counties.
Lewis and Clark also reported seeing Piping Plovers near the confluence of the Little Sioux River with the Missouri River. In their journals, they referred to them as “small kildee.” Ferdinand Hayden also reported seeing Piping Plovers along the Platte River near the Loup River confluence, in-modern day Platte County. Hayden noted that Piping Plovers were very abundant on sandbars in the Platte River. In the 1860s and 1870s, Piping Plovers were found nesting in modern Dixon, Dakota, Wayne and Sarpy counties.
As Nebraska became more settled, Least Terns and Piping Plovers took advantage of the nesting areas created by human development. By the early 1920s, terns and plovers were regularly nesting on a strip of sandy beach at the salt mine that is now Capital Beach Lake, near Lincoln, in Lancaster County.
This article is provided by a member of Wachiska Audubon Society and features writing related to nature, the seasons and relevant environmental issues. For more information, visit http://www.wachiska%20audubon.org/.
For more information about the Tern and Plover Conservation Partnership, visit http://ternandplover.unl.edu/.
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