There are two subspecies of Piping Plover in Canada, split into 3 populations (Atlantic, Canadian Great Lakes, and Prairie Canada). Approximately 25% of Canada's Piping Plovers are found in the Atlantic Provinces; this subspecies breeds along the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to South Carolina (C. m. melodus). About 75% of Canada's Piping Plovers breed in the Prairie Provinces, mainly in Saskatchewan (C. m. circumcinctus; COSEWIC 2013c), though a third population breeds in the Great Lakes region. Dedicated censuses for Piping Plovers have documented variable counts since the surveys started in 1991, but numbers from the 2016 census represent an all-time low for both subspecies. Despite significant recovery efforts and recent increases across the U.S. Atlantic coast and in the Great Lakes, both subspecies appear to have decreased relative to the 1970s, though the reliability of this assessment is only medium. Piping Plovers are at risk due to their small population size and poor adult survival rate. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada first designated the two subspecies as endangered in 2001 (re-confirmed in 2013; COSEWIC 2013c); both subspecies were listed under the Species at Risk Act in 2003. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.
Piping Plovers have been the subject of intensive research and monitoring for decades. Both subspecies of Piping Plovers have small population sizes, and are split into 3 populations (Atlantic, Prairie, and Great Lakes), which means that even localized disturbances can have significant population-level effects (Kirk 2013, COSEWIC 2015b). Threats from predation, human disturbance, and declines in habitat extent and quality continue to threaten the small Canadian population (COSEWIC 2013c). Loss of beach habitat on its wintering grounds could also affect the species. Piping Plovers often nest on beaches, where they are exposed to frequent human disturbance that can lead to abandonment or nest destruction (Elliott-Smith and Haig 2004, Gratto-Trevor and Abbott 2011, Roche et al. 2012). To reduce disturbance within National Parks, protection of known nest sites has involved closing sections of beach found to have breeding birds and redirecting visitors to other beaches (Parks Canada Agency 2016b). Active protection of known nest sites of Piping Plovers in Atlantic Canada (C. m. melodus) with predator exclosures has been successful in some portions of the range (Gratto-Trevor and Abbott 2011, Kwon et al. 2018). However, desertion of attending adults may be elevated (e.g., Vaske et al. 1994), and in some areas of Eastern Canada, predation of adults was higher at exclosed nests so they are no longer used (Barber et al. 2010, Calvert and Taylor 2011). The Ontario Great Lakes circumcinctus subspecies population currently breed in Ontario thanks to management efforts in Ontario, Michigan, and other nearby states, which have increased the number of nesting birds through nest site protection, predator control, and captive rearing of abandoned eggs (Kirk 2013). Climate or human-induced changes to water levels can affect habitat suitability and availability, flood nests, and result in the redistribution of breeding birds (Roche et al. 2012, COSEWIC 2013). In the United States, there are ongoing efforts to engineer sandbars for the species, but research has shown that reproductive success is much higher in natural habitats (Hunt et al. 2018). An expanding predator population (e.g., Merlins) has also been suggested as an important limiting factor (Saunders et al. 2018). In addition to habitat loss and degradation, predation of nests and young by anthropogenically elevated populations of gulls, magpies, and crows is considered an important threat to the circumcinctus subspecies (COSEWIC 2013). Although active management has resulted in range-wide increases in the abundance of Piping Plovers in North America, the species continues to face significant conservation challenges. For information on the legal status of this species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and to view available recovery documents, see the SARA Registry.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:
Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.
