Photo: Pat Ulrich | Mass Audubon
For the second year in a row, Massachusetts beaches have recorded more nesting Piping Plovers than anytime in the last four decades — 1,196 nesting pairs, a 1.5% increase over 2023 and a 500% jump since the Coastal Waterbird Program began. In the mid-1980s, fewer than 200 pairs of breeding Piping Plovers existed in the state. “Long-term investments in coastal communities and implementing a combination of wildlife management, science-based conservation, policy development, and education is paying off,” said Lyra Brennan, Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program director. Other vulnerable seabirds have also had success, including Least Terns, who increased 37% population in 2024 to 4,901 pairs. American Oystercatchers also experienced their second record year in a row with 250 nesting pairs.
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