Piping Plover Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Our special tiny shorebird of the sandbars of the Missouri River. That is the primary area where Piping Plovers are found in South Dakota, as those sandy areas are their traditional breeding area. With the series of dams on the Missouri, that habitat is greatly reduced, and thus they're not nearly as common here as they once were. The Missouri also isn't a place I tend to get to much during the summer months, so despite birding since 2000, it was 2020 before I saw Piping Plovers in the state! All of the photos below are from North Alabama Bend Park, just west of Vermilion. Wonderful area that I didn't even know about until 2020, but it's certainly perfect habitat for both these guys and Least Terns (another species that breeds on sandbars).

Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus


Piping Plover 1 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 2 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 3 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 4 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota

Piping Plover 5 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 6 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 7 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 8 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota

Piping Plover 9 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 10 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 11 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota	Piping Plover 12 July 3rd, 2020 North Alabama Bend Park, South Dakota