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PRBO began working with the Snowy Plover population in the Upper beach, foredune, and decommissioned salt pond habitats in Monterey in 1977.
We focus on monitoring nesting biology, population tracking and improving management for this federally threatened species. (Snowy Plover parent and chick pictured at left, photo by Jenny Erbes)
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| Contact: Gary Page |
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Click on the links below to learn more about this project
Highlights
- The Monterey Bay Plover Project has met or exceeded the USFWS recovery target of 338 breeding plovers for 6 out of the last 9 years
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Objectives
Our objectives in working with this population are to:
- Determine the annual breeding population size, nesting success, first-year and adult survivorship, and dispersal patterns of Snowy Plovers nesting in coastal habitats of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
- Assist county, state, and federal agencies in identifying and protecting nesting and brood-rearing areas used each year.
- Develop and examine the effect of management actions on breeding population size, and work with partner government agencies to develop an effective management for sustainable recovery to a healthy Snowy Plover population in the Monterey Bay Area.
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Partners
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Education
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Watsonville Area Teens Conserving Habitats (W.A.T.C.H.)
PRBO supports, WATCH, a Monterey Bay Aquarium sponsored summer program for high school students at Pajaro Valley and Watsonville High School with an interest in science. The students are exposed to a variety of science professionals throughout the Monterey Bay, including PRBO biologists who study Snowy Plovers in the area, and spend a lot of time in the field. For more information click here or e-mail teenprograms@mbayaq.org.
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Watsonville Wetlands Watch (WWW)
PRBO snowy plover biologists work with WWW restoration specialists and provide support for school programming. WWW is dedicated to the protection, restoration, and appreciation of the wetlands of the Pajaro Valley, especially involving members of the Watsonville community and the students of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District. For more information about WWW, click here.
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Volunteer Opportunities
PRBO Avian Ecologist Carleton Eyster (center) stomps mud with volunteers. |
The Mud Stomp
Coordinated by PRBO Avian Ecologist Carleton Eyster and Amanda Ankenbrandt, Docent Coordinator at the Elkhorn Slough Foundation Reserve, this event is open to the public. The purpose is to provide nesting sites for the Western Snowy Plover which lays eggs in shallow depressions in the ground or in beach sands above the wrack line. The footprints also provide disruptive ground cover that can help plover chicks, which are flightless for their first month, to avoid predators. Click here to read an article highlighting the event.
Contact Carleton Eyster, PRBO Avian Ecologist, for more information at ceyster@prbo.org.
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Snowy Plover Resources
>>Request copies of our Pocket Guide to Beach Birds of California for your education program.
>> Helping Birds on Beaches Handout
Listen to a Podcast about Snowy Plover conservation. 
