• Snowy Plover on the sand
    Western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) // Photo credit: Matt Lau
  • Two Snowy Plovers on a beach
    Western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) pair // Photo credit: Matt Lau
  • A nesting Snowy Plover brooding her eggs
    Western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) incubating eggs // Photo credit: Matt Lau
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Welcome to the Snowy Plover Awareness Training!

This 40-minute presentation will benefit anyone working in snowy plover habitats, from marine mammal responders and Beach Watch volunteers to COASST (Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team) surveyors.

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Over the past few years, Marine Mammal Stranding Network – West Coast Region responders have had difficulties responding to stranded animals on beaches with nesting endangered bird species, particularly those with western snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus). This training provides a background on the biology and conservation of the snowy plover to help decrease any potential impact that you might have on snowy plovers during the breeding season.

Through this project, we hope to educate marine mammal responders and other researchers about these birds and to inform snowy plover monitors about marine mammal stranding response in order to build new or improve existing collaborative relationships.

This project is partially funded by a John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant #NA17NMF4390083 awarded to the California Academy of Sciences.

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