Signs of Spring: Four things you didn’t know about piping plover fencing
If you live or vacation in a community like Long Island, you may be used to shorebird string fencing as a literal sign of the season. But do you know why it’s there, who decides where to put it and how? Read on to learn four things you didn’t know about piping plover fencing.
1. Whom they help
Much of the fencing across Long Island beaches and throughout the Northeast is primarily designed to alert beachgoers of the threatened piping plovers nesting on the beach. But plovers are far from the only conservation priority on our beaches, and seashore conservation efforts have a wide variety of ecological benefits.
Piping plovers share habitat with other important shorebird species like the least tern and the red knot. While these neighbors of the piping plover have their own unique features and needs, fencing these sites also protects least tern nests and red knot migratory stopovers. The installations alert beachgoers to the importance of keeping their distance from this habitat, leashing their pets, and cleaning up their trash. It should be no surprise that these environmentally sound practices have a big impact, not only for the tiny plovers.
2. How they work
These installations are officially known as “symbolic fencing,” but it can be confusing to understand their presence and purpose on your local beach. Knowledge of the birds’ specific needs and unique characteristics can provide a better sense of this conservation tactic.
Since plovers are tiny and sand-colored, the bright fencing helps people to avoid accidentally crushing these camouflaged critters. Because the birds startle very easily and the defenseless chicks must forage for themselves, the use of spacious fenced-off areas around each nest provides a buffer for the chicks to grow up safely.
In March and April, these large, eye-catching installations alert beachgoers to the arrival of birds and their use of the beach for the nests. Into the summer months, special exclosures are built around many individual nests to protect the delicate young plovers from predation. When the chicks fledge, or begin to fly, in the late summer and early fall, all of the apparatus is taken down as the birds prepare for their winter migration south. This symbolic fencing allows all beachgoers — feathered or otherwise — to share the shore.
3. How they get there
The reality is that this is a heavy lift. Piping plover fencing is a weeks-long project that requires a meticulous, arduous effort from members of the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Parks, Audubon New York, landowners and volunteers.
Even with this large group, fencing is a trying task. The fencers first must carry the cumbersome metal poles across the beaches before they drive them into place with a heavy metal post-pounder. They then install educational signage, string fencing and warning flags around the habitat.
Each step in the process is meticulously thought-out, from the spacing of the posts to the zip-tying of the signs. There is even a special knot called “The Plover Knot” that the fencers use to secure the flagging. Simply put, plover fencing is a lot more work than it looks. Hopefully, the birds and the beachgoers appreciate this effort!
4. Why they’re there
If the installation itself sounds very involved, the preparation behind the process is just as painstaking. The specific set-up of each site derives from extensive research and experience.
Most plovers return to nest at the same sites year after year. Because of this fidelity, the Service and our partner organizations have gained many years’ worth of research about the nesting locations. At each individual site, there is a unique protocol for fencing based on this detailed information.
This wealth of knowledge is the reason behind the specificity in every step of the fencing process. While all fences might appear indistinguishable to the average beachgoer, each site is designed to accommodate its unique number of nesting pairs, their productivity as parents, the natural features of the environment and the interests of the rest of the community. It’s important to fence each site appropriately, and it’s equally important to respect these unique nesting areas, because no two nests are quite the same!
The more you know about the Service’s seashore conservation, the better we can protect these special natural spaces.
