They’re back!
Two male piping plovers were spotted Friday at Montrose Beach, according to Chicago Piping Plovers, an organization dedicated to protecting local plovers.
The two banded birds were identified as Pippin, a plover that hatched in Wisconsin in 2023, and Uncle Larry, who hatched in Michigan in 2023.
The two small, sand-colored shorebirds are the first to fly into a Chicago beach this year, with “hopefully” a few more on the way.
Pippin and Uncle Larry’s arrival was a bit earlier than in past years. Nesting season typically runs from May until August.
BREAKING: Pippin is back at Montrose Beach!
— Chicago Piping Plovers (@ChicagoPiping) April 11, 2025
Mark Kolasa, your Montrose Beach Dunes Volunteer Community Steward, alerted us and the birding community this morning of two banded Piping Plovers at Montrose.
📸: Lin Johnston (Pippin, Montrose protected beach, Chicago, April 11, 2025) pic.twitter.com/Anr0uaMrWa
Bird watchers are still awaiting the return of Chicago’s most-loved plover family.
Piping plovers had disappeared from Chicago for more than 70 years, until in 2019, when a pair of plovers, dubbed Monty and Rose, began nesting at Montrose. The pair hatched several birds, but the majority died.
Monty and Rose died in 2022.
Their son Imani mated with Sea Rocket last year and hatched four chicks — but three of the chicks didn’t survive.
The only surviving chick and newest member of the family was named Nagamo, which means “he/she sings” in the Ojibwe language.
Volunteers with Chicago Piping Plovers said they hoped for at least one nest at Montrose this summer.
Piping plovers became a protected species under the Endangered Species Act in 1986.
