Snowy plover chicks snuggle on the sand in a nest. Coos Bay’s North Spit proved to be productive ground for the threatened shorebirds this year, despite substantial drops elsewhere. Photo contributed by U.S. Bureau of Land Management

The North Spit’s Western snowy plovers were busy little birds this nesting season. Even the noisy New Carissa shipwreck scrapping project in the surf north of the nesting sites didn’t stifle the red hot plovers.

It was good thing, because coastwide plover fledgling survival numbers plummeted this year.

From March 15 to Sept. 15, 71 young birds survived to learn to fly and become independent of their parents. That is down from 124 last year, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife press release said.

The North Spit’s plovers were the stars on the Oregon coast. In fact, the 2008 season produced the highest number of fledglings in any recorded year at the site, said Dave Lauten, plover monitor with Oregon Natural Heritage Information Center. Of the 71 birds hatched this year, 40 came from the North Spit.

“They are pretty tolerant of things that aren’t right where they are,” Lauten said, referring to the New Carissa project.

The salvage removal noise didn’t seem any worse for the tiny shorebirds than the noise from U.S. Coast Guard helicopters that fly overhead every day.

Coastwide, biologists were disappointed, but not surprised, at the overall statistics. The number of young western snowy plovers fledged dropped to the lowest number since 2003.

“It’s normal for species populations to fluctuate from year to year over the long term,” Lauten said. “Luckily the plovers have had a string of successful nesting years that got us through this tough year.”

The plovers lay their eggs and raise young in the open dry sand. There are eight nesting areas on the coast from Sutton Beach near Florence to New River south of Bandon. It’s all BLM and Forest Service-managed land. The Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Pacific Coast population as threatened in 1993.

“The North Spit continues to be important and successful habitat for the snowy plover, thanks in large part to the public’s willingness to comply with the area’s beach restrictions and the amount of restored habitat on BLM land,” Kerrie Palermo, BLM’s wildlife program leader, said in a press release.

Lauten said one goal is for the birds to produce one fledgling to every adult male. Despite the dip in numbers, Oregon’s population made that goal this year, mostly thanks to the success of the Coos Bay site.

While Lauten said that is positive, it could be an alarming trend if having a strong, but isolated population, becomes a characteristic of Oregon plovers.

“You could see that a negative impact on Coos Bay would be a negative impact on the entire population,” he said.

Oregon wasn’t the only state to suffer a less-than-stellar year. Numbers are down in Washington and Northern and Central California as well, Lauten said.

Biologists speculate a number of factors contributed to the lower numbers. Cooler, wetter weather may have impacted early nesting. There were more younger birds in this year’s breeding population and their inexperience may have been a factor. Predators could be having an impact on chick survival.

The biggest threats to plover survival are habitat degradation, urban development, invasive European beachgrass, and predators such as crows, ravens, foxes and skunks.

There is a long-term management plan to help the plovers. Its strategy includes temporary beach nesting site closures, predator control and habitat restoration.

“A comprehensive management strategy is important,” Palermo said. “It helps with overall success and offsets losses due to natural factors, like weather.”