Piping Plovers returned to…

Piping Plovers returned to breed on the shores of Ontario’s Great Lakes in 2007 after a 30-year absence, thanks largely to major conservation efforts in the United States. It was a celebratory moment– a sign that this struggling endangered species was starting to recover.

Habitats like the ones Piping Plovers nest at in Wasaga Beach are increasingly rare. Piping Plovers make their homes on wide sandy beaches with a mix of vegetation, pebbles, driftwood and dunes.

When these natural beaches are mismanaged, it leaves Piping Plovers without a place to raise their young, and can take decades and millions of dollars to properly restore.

Under the management and protection of Ontario Parks, Wasaga Beach has hosted 57 nests and successfully raised 87 fledglings. It is the most productive and valuable nesting habitat in the province, and one of few accessible and reliable sites for visitors to see Piping Plovers in Ontario. Beach goers have an opportunity to see an endangered bird, and birding tourists travel from far and wide to experience the joy of adding Piping Plovers to their “life-list”, and watching them raise their young on the beach.