Let’s open this blog post with a little fun. We recently held a gender reveal and Erie, the piping plover under human care at the Detroit Zoo, is a GIRL! Not only is Erie a girl, but she is also the granddaughter of the Illinois pair from Montrose Beach, Monty and Rose.

Erie’s background:

For the first time in 83 years, piping plovers were seen nesting in Ohio. Birds Nellie and Nish quickly became a famous, feathered pair when they decided to make Maumee Bay State Park their temporary home. Of note, Nish (the male) is the offspring of Monty and Rose, the infamous piping plover pair in Chicago (about whom a book was written). On July 1, all four of their eggs hatched. The chicks – Erie, Ottawa, Maumee and Kickapoo – were given some serious security detail. A large part of the beach was cordoned off until early August to protect the young birds.

People with a passion for plovers watched this Great Lakes critically endangered species closely. Black Swamp Bird Observatory volunteers and other bird watchers gathered for weeks with binoculars, cameras and notebooks. Daily updates were posted to Nellie & Nish: The Maumee Bay Piping Plovers Facebook page.

On August 18, hearts were broken when a volunteer found Kickapoo dead. It is believed the bird was killed by another wild animal. The next day, more difficult news was shared when it was noticed in photographs that Erie had suffered an injury to her cloaca. The cloaca is the opening for a bird’s digestive, urinary and reproductive tracts. It’s used to expel feces and lay eggs. An injured cloaca could cause chronic medical problems, as well as make it difficult for Erie to lay eggs when she is nesting.

After much discussion with wildlife agencies and piping plover experts, the decision was made to capture Erie and transport her to the Toledo Zoo for treatment. During this time, siblings Ottawa and Maumee did what piping plovers do and migrated south for the winter. It is believed that had Erie left with the others, she would likely not have survived.

After nearly two weeks of treatment, Erie’s injury was healing well and she was returned to the beach. Everyone expected her to head south like Nellie, Nish, Ottawa and Maumee already had – but in mid-October she was still at Maumee Bay State Park.

That’s where the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) comes in. At the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) request, Erie was captured and transferred to the Detroit Zoo, where we are providing medical care and a private, comfortable home for her over the winter. Our experience caring for piping plover chicks as part of the federal recovery program’s salvage captive rearing program makes the DZS a perfect fit for helping Erie. Every year, piping plover eggs that are abandoned are collected, incubated and hatched on the DZS campus and chicks are later released back to various Michigan shorelines. This program has been very successful; the Great Lakes population of piping plovers has increased from 17 breeding females in 1986 to 74 breeding females in 2021.

In the last two months, we’ve been able to watch Erie’s personality really develop. She is laid back and loves all kinds of bugs! Staff at the DZS will assess Erie’s health over the winter and release her next summer with a group of captive-reared chicks. If it is believed that her injury could present risk to her, such as causing problems when she tries to lay eggs, she may be deemed non-releasable by the USFWS and we will help to find a permanent home for her in a zoo that houses piping plovers.

Bonnie Van Dam is the associate curator of birds for the Detroit Zoological Society.