Piping Plovers

PIPING PLOVERS

Town Biologists conduct piping plover surveys from August to April of each year. Records are kept of the number of birds seen, their location, behaviors, and habitat in which they are found. Additionally, banded birds are reported to the Bird Banding Laboratory to aid in efforts to better understand the migration and wintering patterns of piping plovers. Piping plovers are most common on the extreme western and eastern ends of the island.

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) are small, stocky shorebirds, found on Kiawah Island beaches during the fall, winter and spring. Its distinguishing characteristics are yellow-orange legs; short, stubby black bill; and gray, sand-colored upperparts. During the breeding season, piping plovers are a little more striking, with a black band across the forehead, a black ring around the base of its neck, and an orange bill with a black tip.