From June 4 to 17, more than 100 volunteers will be visiting nearly 200 lakes and alkali flats across Saskatchewan to locate endangered piping plovers.
Saskatchewan is one of the last strongholds for the piping plover in the Great Plains.
Of the 2,200 birds, recorded in the 2011 census, 775 piping plovers were recorded in Saskatchewan alone. This accounts for 34 per cent of the Northern Great Plains population.
“The census allows us to determine population size and monitor population trends, to understand site use and habitat availability, to identify potential threats and to measure recovery program successes,” said Al Smith, Saskatchewan co-ordinator for the 2016 International piping plover census.
“We will be searching for plovers at all water basins where they have been reported in the past, as well as those where suitable beach habitat has been identified.
“This is a particularly important year for the International Census” Smith added. “Following years of flooding and all time low numbers in the 2011 census, it is critical we see the numbers bounce back.”
