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- Title
Cathemeral Behavior of Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) Breeding along Michigan's Lake Superior Shoreline.
- Authors
Waterman, Riley; Garvon, Jason
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Many shorebirds are active throughout a 24 h time period, yet few comparisons of nighttime and daytime activity exist. Better understanding of nighttime activities could aid in conservation measures of endangered shorebirds. The Great Lakes population of piping plovers contains fewer than 80 breeding pairs. Within this population, a few pairs breed along Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. To better understand what leads to success or failure of these nests, we observed behaviors of plovers during both daytime and nighttime. We found they feed more at night than during the day, when their primary predators are active. Our findings give insight into the nighttime activity of these critically endangered birds and help to identify the need for management strategies that limit disturbance at night. Shorebirds commonly exhibit cathemeral activity and commonly forage throughout a 24 h period. Conservation of endangered shorebirds should then extend to protection at night, yet little data exists on overall time budgets of such species at night. The Great Lakes population of piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) is the smallest and most endangered, making each breeding pair an essential part of recovery. Intense monitoring of breeding individuals occurs during the daytime, yet we have little understanding of the time budgets of plovers at night. To gain better insight into the cathemeral behavior of plovers we recorded behaviors of 12 plovers from along Michigan's Lake Superior shoreline during both day and night in 2018 with the use of a night-vision-capable camera, and compared time budgets of plovers between daytime and nighttime. Overall, piping plovers spent more time and a greater proportion of their time foraging at night and more time devoted to being alert during the day. These differences were especially evident during the chick rearing phase. Limited observations suggest that copulatory activity may also be more common at night. Likely, the threat of avian predation on this population drives the increase in nighttime foraging, despite decreased efficiency. Recognizing the importance of decreasing potential for disturbance during the night should be considered in future management strategies regarding the recovery of this endangered species.
- Subjects
MICHIGAN; UPPER Peninsula (Mich.); PIPING plover; SHORE birds; RARE birds; WILDLIFE recovery; TIME management; SHORELINES; PLOVERS
- Publication
Birds (2673-6004), 2022, Vol 3, Issue 1, p72
- ISSN
2673-6004
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/birds3010006