Western Snowy Plover (ORBIC)
Central and Southern Oregon Coast
The western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1973. Oregon Biodiversity Information Center staff have surveyed and monitored snowy plovers along the Oregon coast since the 1990s. Working with partners in the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation, The Nature Conservancy, and many others, ORBIC staff have collected decades of data on plover distribution, nesting locations and success, and predator controls and exclosure methods. Through these and other conservation efforts, populations of the western snowy plover have steadily increased.
Related Information
- Poster, "Documenting causes of Snowy Plover nest failure with cameras." Gaines et al., 2016.
- Annual reports on snowy plover nesting outcomes and other documents are available from OSU's Scholars Archive.
- Story about INR's Plover Team in this 2012 article from KATU about recovering chicks from the Bandon State Natural Area.
- 2016 poster presentation on documenting causes of snowy plover failure with cameras, by Eleanor Gaines and the INR-ORBIC team.
- Video: Working for Plovers
Sponsor: Collaborative project with multiple partners
Purpose: Monitor productivity and document management success
Informs/Impacts: We inform recovery actions for this Threatened shorebird. Oregon/Washington recovery unit is only unit meeting recovery goals. Snowy plovers now nest in all Oregon coastal counties.
6 state and federal partners
35 plovers in 1990
700+ plovers in 2021