Injured piping plover rehabbed, released back into the wild

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has collaborated with Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists to successfully release a rehabilitated piping plover originally rescued at Fowler Beach in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Piping plovers are federally listed as a threatened species and as a species of greatest conservation need and endangered in Delaware.

The rehabbed plover is an adult male banded at Assateague Island National Seashore in 2023 with a unique-coded leg flag, Green 6YP, and known by the nickname Nomad. The male plover, which has been nesting at Fowler Beach since 2024, was observed June 30 unable to fly or walk, but relatively alert and with no obvious injuries. DNREC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists believe a high-stress event such as a predator’s extended pursuit possibly caused muscle damage. 

Upon making that determination, biologists at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge decided to capture the bird by hand and transport it to Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark, where the plover received immediate veterinary care. Within a week, Nomad was deemed in good condition and ready to be released.

Nomad was transported in July to the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes and released at one of two active piping plover breeding areas in Delaware. The Point currently experiences lower pressure from predators than Fowler Beach, and, according to sighting data, has been frequented by Nomad over the past two years.

Since his release, Nomad has been observed foraging and behaving as expected for a healthy adult piping plover.

“Every individual matters for this vulnerable species, and the major effort between partners to return this bird to the breeding population was an excellent example of collaboration in conservation,” said DNREC Coastal Waterbird Biologist Kat Christie said.

Piping plovers are faced with a declining population in the southern part of their range. Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, with the largest population of nesting piping plovers in Delaware, is known to help augment the plover populations of some of the hardest-hit beaches in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.