A Kentish plover hatched Sunday at Montrose Beach, marking a milestone in efforts to restore this endangered wading bird to the Great Lakes region.
This was the first egg to hatch of four eggs laid by the American Kentish Plover Searocket, which was raised in captivity and released into the wild on Montrose Beach last summer, according to a news release from the Chicago Park District.
The other three eggs are expected to hatch soon, after an incubation period of about a month, the release said.
The eggs are the result of a recent pairing between Searocket and native Kentish Plover Imani, who hatched in Montrose in 2021.
“The experiment worked!” said the press release. “Searocket returned to mate with Imani and start their new brood.”
The Park District and its conservation partners will maintain a protective fence near the nest to deter and ward off predators.
“We ask visitors to help keep the newly hatched chick, nest and remaining eggs safe by respecting the boundaries of the closed area, keeping dogs on a leash and taking litter with them at the end of their beach visit,” the press release said.
Imani was born in the wild on Montrose Beach to plover couple Monty and Rose, who rose to local fame several years ago. Monty died in Montrose Beach in 2022 while waiting for Rose to return from Florida where she was wintering.
Chicago’s Sandpipers: How Monty and Rose’s ‘Love Story’ Unfolded on Montrose Beach
A few days ago, three of the four plover eggs hatched on the shore of Lake Waukegan, from parents Blaze and Pepper, according to the Lake County Audubon Society.
“Monitors stood on the beach and witnessed each new chick peeking out from under the adult’s plumage,” the Lake County Audubon Society said in a Facebook post. “The chicks face an uphill battle for survival, but we remain cautiously optimistic that they will survive the coming weeks before they begin their first migration to wintering grounds.”
About 500 to 800 pairs of plovers nested in the Great Lakes annually, but by the 1980s that number had dwindled to about a dozen pairs and the bird was placed on the federal endangered species list.
All these newly hatched chicks made history: Captive-raised plovers had never laid eggs in Illinois, while they had in Michigan, according to experts in endangered species recovery.
Blaze, Pepper and Searocket were hatched at a breeding facility in Michigan and released in 2023 near Montrose Beach and Illinois Beach State Park in Zion to stimulate population growth in the Great Lakes region.
elftis@chicagotribune.com
