Piping Plover
Piping Career
Ryan J. Bradshaw
A teenage Piping Plover
felt pressure from her mother
to commit to a piping career.
She could become a plumber
like her sensible brother,
or play bagpipes like one of her peers.
Or she could use her bright mind
to solve unsolvable crimes,
smoking a pipe (as detectives do).
But what she wanted to find:
a job travelling through time
like Billie Piper in Doctor Who.
She’d journey back to an age
before her species was named.
Before working so hard to survive.
Before their habitat waned
and they were hunted for game.
Before the humans even arrived.
But if she really must stay
and work a job present day,
she’d be the Pied Piper of plovers.
She’d find the notes she must play
to coax the humans away
before another plover suffers.
Piping Plovers have already endured a great number of human impacts, such as being hunted for hat feathers, disturbances at nesting sites (people, dogs, vehicles), and losing beach habitat to development. Thankfully, hunting no longer occurs and conservation measures have been put in place in several areas, but climate impacts will continue to harm this species. A good way to see Piping Plovers in Saskatchewan, along with many other shorebirds, is by booking a driving tour with the nature centre in Chaplin during May or June.
According to Audubon’s Survival by Degrees study, the Piping Plover is estimated to lose 62% of its current summer range in the not-too-distant future as average global temperatures rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate experts believe we will reach 1.5°C as soon as the early 2030s. If we allow global heating to progress at this rate, the Piping Plover could lose 74% of its current summer range as soon as 2050 (2°C). Projections suggest this species could gain 38%-39% in new areas within that time, but displaced birds may face new challenges and have varying degrees of success in nesting and rearing young.
Want to help? Visit the United Nations website for a list of actions that you can take!
Photograph courtesy of Nick Saunders
This project is supported by SK Arts
