| The breeding adult Piping Plover is a pale grayish brown above with white underparts. There is a single breast band and a band across the forehead. The legs are orange as is the bill which is tipped with black. Fall adults and immature birds are duller with no bands. The bill is darker and the legs are yellowish. The voice is a clear, melodious whistled "peep-lo", which seems to come from here or there or any where except for where this sandy colored bird is standing on the beach.
The habitat consists of the sandy or gravely beaches especially near tufts of grass along the eastern seaboard and Great Lakes and inland through central Canada. The bird winters on the beaches of the southern United States as well as the Bahamas
During courtship the male will engage in circular and figure eight flights followed by a variety of displays on the ground. These displays include spreading the wings and tail and stretching the neck while circling the female. The male will also stamp his feet, and crouch while puffing out his chest and whistling. The birds tend to be monogamous and show strong site tenacity.
The nest is a hollow in the sand. Four gray or buff eggs lightly spotted with black and lilac. This fine speckling helps to camouflage these eggs making them difficult to see on the sandy beaches. The eggs are incubated for 25-31 days by both parents and the young leave the nest soon after hatching. They become independent in 3 or 4 weeks and fly in about 20 to 32 days. The young are cared for by both parents, but the female may desert the brood after about 1 week. As with other shore birds distraction displays are performed when the young are threatened.
The diet consist of insects and small aquatic animals including marine worms, crustaceans, mollusks, and eggs of marine invertebrates.
Hunting and habitat loss almost caused the extinction of this bird, reducing their numbers to less than 800 breeding pairs on the Atlantic Coast before it was placed on the endangered species list in 1986.
Length: 6 to 7 inches.
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