Endangered Piping Plover chicks banded and released at the Cat Island Chain in Howard | WLUK

UW-Green Bay students and alumni monitor Piping Plovers at Cat Island each year and recently helped with the banding of plover chicks! See more from Fox 11:

The population for some endangered birds got a helping hand Wednesday.

Conservationists banded four Piping Plover chicks on the Cat Island Chain on the waters just north of Green Bay.

The mission combines patience, good reaction and a little luck.

“You basically surround the chicks, and you close that circle. And, since they can’t fly yet, you got to have quick reflexes, but, usually, you can catch them,” said Tom Prestby, Audubon Great Lakes Wisconsin Conservation Manager.

Seven years ago, as a UW-Green Bay graduate student, Prestby documented the first successful Piping Plover nest in about 70 years at the site. On Wednesday morning, he says three nests produced 12 tiny Piping Plover chicks. Crews weighed and banded the one-ounce birds that morning.

Source: Endangered Piping Plover chicks banded and released at the Cat Island Chain in Howard | WLUK