A rare visitor to Lake Superior NMCA!

By Doug Tate

Many different visitors enjoy the shorelines of Lake Superior, but last spring one visitor in particular garnered interest among certain residents. Rather than a person, this international wanderer was an endangered bird—a Piping Plover.

On May 13, 2023, a Piping Plover was observed at the Wolf River sand spit, near Hurkett Cove Conservation Area on Black Bay, within the boundary of Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA). Piping Plovers have backs the colour of dry beach sand and white undersides, with a black chest band. The most colourful parts are their bright orange legs and bill. Local birders flocked to the site to see this little bird, a rare sighting for the area. It did not seem too concerned by all the attention and remained at the site for at least four days. 

Piping Plovers, throughout their range in Canada, are listed as Endangered on the federal Species at Risk Act and the provincial list of Species at Risk in Ontario. Within the Great Lakes region, small breeding populations occur in several areas, including on the southern shores of Lake Superior. There are intensive management efforts underway to try to help plovers recover. As part of the recovery efforts, many plovers are colour-banded as chicks to help track their movements. 

Photographs of the bird observed at Wolf River allowed biologists to identify the unique pattern of colour bands on its legs. From those bands, it was determined that this plover was hatched in spring of 2022 at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, in the northeast part of Lake Michigan.  Considering these birds usually winter on the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic coast of Florida or Georgia, this little bird, at less than a year old, would have already flown somewhere around 4,000 km. If it was trying to get home to Michigan, it overshot by 450 km! 

It is not surprising the bird stayed only a few days. The Wolf River site does not provide the extensive sand beaches this species requires for successful breeding; nor were there other plovers to court as potential mates! Hopefully it found enough food to fuel its continued wanderings. Shorebirds like this need good habitat, as well as time to feed and rest without being disturbed during breeding. The same requirements are needed in their migration stopover sites, known as staging areas. It is important to stay back a respectable distance (view with binoculars, spotting scopes, or telephoto lenses) and keep dogs on leash. Birds flushed into flight are not feeding and waste valuable energy.

Protected areas play important roles in the conservation of rare species, supporting biodiversity, and even as ‘nature-based solutions’ to climate change. This is a great example of a species benefitting from protected habitats on both sides of an international border. If you are interested in learning more about birds in the Lake Superior Region, consider attending the Dorion Birding Festival, May 25-26, 2024 and report bird sightings using eBird.