A piping plover primer: How to identify the tiny birds and avoid trampling them

Nature Saskatchewan is warning beach-goers to be conscious of a tiny endangered bird nesting on Saskatchewan shores during the summer season.

Piping plovers are tiny birds, with similar colouring to killdeer, but smaller. They're vulnerable to trampling, promptingthe organization to askpeople to watch their step.

"It's a great time to see them along the shores of our favourite beaches," said Habitat Stewardshp Coordinator Shirley Bartz

"But it's also time to be watchful."

The mother birds nest late in the season and are likely to have little chicks running around in the next few weeks.

Best defence is camouflage

Piping plovers do everything they can to evade human feet. Like Killdeer, they lure predators (and humans) away from their nests by faking a broken wing.

Once a plover hasyour attention and leads you away from its chicks, it circles back.

The babies are small, with tiny stick legs poking out from their cotton ball bodies.

They can't fly right away, but they can run within hours of hatching.

"Since Saskatchewan has the highest numbers of breeding piping plovers in Canada, we feel a great responsibility to give these endangered shorebirds the best chance possible for breeding success before their long journey south," said Bartz

The piping plover increases its fat stores through August, like other migratory birds. Adult birds and mature chicks fly all the way to the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, 3,500 km away.