Plasticity of Least Tern and Piping Plover nesting behaviors in response to sand temperature.

Birds that nest on the ground in open areas, such as Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus) and Interior Least Terns (Sternula antillarum athalassos), are exposed to high temperatures in thermally stressful environments. As a result, some ground-nesting avian species have adapted behavioral strategies to maintain thermal regulation of eggs and themselves. We assessed the impact of sand temperature on shorebird nesting behaviors by installing video cameras and thermocouples at 52 Least Tern and 55 Piping Plover nests on the Missouri River in North Dakota during the 2014-2015 breeding seasons.

Nest survival of piping plovers at a dynamic reservoir indicates an ecological trap for a threatened population.

In the past 60 years, reservoirs have reshaped riverine ecosystems and transformed breeding habitats used by the threatened piping plover (Charadrius melodus; hereafter plover). Currently, 29 % of the Northern Great Plains plover population nests at reservoirs that might function as ecological traps because reservoirs have more diverse habitat features and greater dynamics in water levels than habitats historically used by breeding plovers. We examined factors influencing daily survival rates (DSR) of 346 plover nests at Lake Sakakawea (SAK; reservoir) during 2006-2009 by evaluating multiple a priori models, and we used our best model to hindcast nest success of plovers during 1985-2009.