14-year-old mother bird returns to Michigan shore. Why ‘gabbY’ is so special

It was “definitely a huge relief” when a piping plover named “gabbY” returned to the Michigan lake shore for breeding season.

At 14 years old, gabbY is the oldest member of the Great Lakes piping plover population, according to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort.

As the species is endangered, any chicks are worth celebrating.

And gabbY has given conservation officials 31 reasons to celebrate over her 14 years of life.

“We are so honored to have such an experienced and smart elder female plover on our Great Lakes shores,” the organization said.

The “wonderful wise” shorebird spends her winters on Georgia’s Cumberland Island National Seashore, where volunteer conservationists Pat and Doris Leary keep an eye on her.

“Gabby is lucky, as well as, a resilient survivor,” Pat Leary said on Facebook.

Following her winter in Georgia, gabbY returned to “her preferred breeding grounds at Sleeping Bear Dunes.”

Chelsea Loomis, a piping plover monitor at Sleeping Bear Dunes, spotted gabbY on April 14, according to the conservation team.

She was seen pairing with GOO, a male piping plover who she first mated with in 2020. The pair fledged three chicks that year, followed by three more in 2021 and four chicks in 2022.

“Wishing her a successful breeding season,” staff with the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort said.

Piping plover conservation

There was once an estimated population of 500 to 800 piping plover pairs that nested along the Great Lakes, officials said. This population declined to about 13 pairs by the late 1980s.

Now, officials estimate there is about 70 nesting pairs in the Great Lakes population.

“Although the breeding population is increasing, the Great Lakes Piping Plover is still extremely vulnerable to extirpation (elimination) from predation, environmental changes, and continuing beach development,” according to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort.

The team, coordinated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, includes several agencies, organizations and volunteers.

This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 9:26 AM with the headline "14-year-old mother bird returns to Michigan shore. Why ‘gabbY’ is so special."