NYC Plover Project Hosts Free Educational Series
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Rockaway-based non-profit will hold free webinars for residents to learn more about the plight of the endangered shorebird.
NYC Plover Project, our local Rockaway volunteer effort to protect Piping Plovers, has kicked off a free webinar series on Zoom. The series began this week with a presentation by Dr. Grainne Maguire who leads the shorebird protection effort for the Hooded Plover in Australia. “While not a Piping Plover effort, we wanted to kick off this series by highlighting a very successful effort to protect vulnerable shorebirds, 18 years running, in Victoria, Australia,” said Chris Allieri, founder, NYC Plover Project. “We have a lot to learn in NYC from efforts as far away as Australia, but as close as New Jersey and Upstate NY.”
Next week, on November 29, Dr. Alison Kocek, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, will discuss Piping Plovers on the shores of New York’s Great Lakes. She will cover how they have had success with select captive rearing of chicks who have been orphaned. On December 6, Chris Allieri will give a sober take on the troubling situation for Piping Plovers on our peninsula. He will discuss efforts the group has made since it began in March 2021. The group’s 75+ volunteers conducted more than 2,500 volunteer hours in 2022 alone.
“There was widespread vandalism of shorebird nests including American Oystercatchers and an adult Piping Plover killed this season,” Allieri said. “It was disappointing to see that there was basically zero reaction from the community. We share this peninsula with these birds, they are our neighbors and they are very much New Yorkers too.”
On December 20, Christina Davis of N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife and Todd Pover of Conserve Wildlife NJ will discuss their efforts to protect Piping Plovers in the Garden State.
All of the Tuesday evening webinar events – November 29, December 6 and December 20 – will begin at 7 p.m. and last about an hour. You can sign up for one or all at the events page of NYC Plover Project’s website – www.nycploverproject.org/events.
