Western Snowy Plover – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Photo Credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Overview

Species Common Name Western Snowy Plover
Species Scientific Name Charadrius nivosus nivosus
Federal Listing Status Threatened (Pacific Coast population)
State Listing Status Threatened

Ecoregions

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

Northern Basin and Range

The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion covers the very large southeastern portion of the state, from Burns south to the Nevada border and from the Christmas Valley east to Idaho. It is largely a high elevation desert-like area dominated by sagebrush communities and habitats.

Nearshore

The Nearshore ecoregion includes a variety of habitats ranging from submerged high-relief rocky reefs to broad expanses of intertidal mudflats in estuaries and hosts a vast array of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, birds, plants, and micro-organisms. This ecoregion encompasses the area from the outer boundary of Oregon’s Territorial Sea to the supra-tidal zone, and up into the estuaries.

Special needs

Western Snowy Plovers use sandy and sparsely-vegetated shoreline above the high tide line for nesting. They prefer sandy beaches with intertidal areas for foraging (Coast Range, Nearshore ecoregions). Interior-breeding birds utilize alkaline flats and salt pans associated with springs, seeps, or lake edges (Northern Basin and Range ecoregion).

Limiting factors

Snowy Plovers need suitable habitat free from introduced European beach grass and with few ground or avian predators. Human disturbance is a major limitation to breeding success outside the currently protected areas.

Data gaps

Assess population size and nesting and fledging rates of interior-breeding birds.

Conservation actions

Main recovery actions include habitat restoration, European beach grass removal, predator control, and disturbance management.

Key reference or plan

Recovery Plan for the Pacific Coast Population of the Western Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus)