Diet not well known. On coast, feeds on marine worms, small crustaceans, insects, other marine invertebrates. Inland, feeds mostly on insects, including small beetles, water boatmen, shore flies, midges, and many others. Males perform display flights over breeding territory, with slow wingbeats and piping callnote.
On the ground, male approaches female, stands upright with neck stretched, and rapidly stamps feet with odd high-stepping gait. Nest site is on open ground some distance away from water, often with large rock or clump of grass nearby, but no direct shelter or shade.
May nest very close to breeding colonies of terns. Nest is shallow scrape in sand, sometimes lined with tiny shells and pebbles. Learn more about these drawings. Most birds from northern plains and Great Lakes probably winter on Gulf Coast.
Not often seen in migration; may travel from breeding to wintering grounds in one nonstop flight. Choose a temperature scenario below to see which threats will affect this species as warming increases. The same climate change-driven threats that put birds at risk will affect other wildlife and people, too. These recent books are sure to delight and inspire the young readers in your life.
Staff with Audubon Great Lakes and Audubon Florida work collectively year-round to keep the plovers safe no matter where they are. Protecting shorebirds in habitats especially vulnerable to development and climate threats. Latin: Charadrius hiaticula. Latin: Charadrius mongolus. Another species, the Pacific Pond Turtle Clemmys marmorata , is now Extirpated, having disappeared from its Canadian range. Also, the Eastern Box Turtle Terrapene carolina has either such a small population that it is nearly Extirpated, or the few individuals found in Canada are actually pets released in the wild.
More research is needed to know if these turtles are still native individuals. Finally, the Red-eared Slider Trachemys scripta elegans , has been introduced to Canada as released pets and, thus, is not a native species. Females tend to be slightly larger than males but are otherwise identical. As its name implies, it is pale tan to reddish or dark brown with a slightly paler belly, and ears and wings that are dark brown to black.
Contrary to popular belief, Little Brown Bats, like all other bats, are not blind. Still, since they are nocturnal and must navigate in the darkness, they are one of the few terrestrial mammals that use echolocation to gather information on their surroundings and where prey are situated.
The echolocation calls they make, similar to clicking noises, bounce off objects and this echo is processed by the bat to get the information they need. These noises are at a very high frequency, and so cannot be heard by humans. Narwhals Monodon monoceros are considered medium-sized odontocetes, or toothed whales the largest being the sperm whale, and the smallest, the harbour porpoise , being of a similar size to the beluga, its close relative.
Males can grow up to 6. Females tend to be smaller, with an average size of 4 m and a maximum size of 5. A newborn calf is about 1. Like belugas, they have a small head, a stocky body and short, round flippers. Narwhals lack a dorsal fin on their backs, but they do have a dorsal ridge about 5 cm high that covers about half their backs.
This ridge can be used by researchers to differentiate one narwhal from another. It is thought that the absence of dorsal fin actually helps the narwhal navigate among sea ice.
Unlike other cetaceans —the order which comprises all whales—, narwhals have convex tail flukes, or tail fins. These whales have a mottled black and white, grey or brownish back, but the rest of the body mainly its underside is white. Newborn narwhal calves are pale grey to light brownish, developing the adult darker colouring at about 4 years old. As they grow older, they will progressively become paler again.
Some may live up to years, but most probably live to be 60 years of age. Although the second, smaller incisor tooth often remains embedded in the skull, it rarely but on occasion develops into a second tusk. Tusks typically grow only on males, but a few females have also been observed with short tusks. The function of the tusk remains a mystery, but several hypotheses have been proposed. Many experts believe that it is a secondary sexual character, similar to deer antlers.
Thus, the length of the tusk may indicate social rank through dominance hierarchies and assist in competition for access to females. Indeed, there are indications that the tusks are used by male narwhals for fighting each other or perhaps other species, like the beluga or killer whale.
A high quantity of tubules and nerve endings in the pulp —the soft tissue inside teeth — of the tusk have at least one scientist thinking that it could be a highly sensitive sensory organ, able to detect subtle changes in temperature, salinity or pressure.
Narwhals have not been observed using their tusk to break sea ice, despite popular belief. Narwhals do occasionally break the tip of their tusk though which can never be repaired.
This is more often seen in old animals and gives more evidence that the tusk might be used for sexual competition. Everyone who has visited the coast is familiar with gulls, those graceful, long-winged birds that throng the beaches and harbours and boldly beg for scraps.
The gulls are a family of birds that live mainly at sea, either along the shore, or out in the ocean itself. Worldwide, there are more than species of birds that live either partially or exclusively at sea, and these are generally known as "seabirds. The table below lists the 14 families of marine birds and the approximate number of species in each the exact number of species is continually being revised as genetic research reveals that some very similar-looking birds are so different in their genetic makeup that they constitute different species.
All species belonging to the albatross, auk, frigatebird, gannet, penguin, petrel, and storm-petrel families feed exclusively at sea.
In addition, many species of cormorants, grebes, gulls, jaegers, loons, pelicans and terns feed either entirely or mainly at sea. The Phalaropes are the only shorebirds that feed at sea.
The number of species that breed in Canada are shown in parentheses. Ducks and grebes that feed at sea are not included. Of the species of woodpeckers worldwide, 13 are found in Canada. The smallest and perhaps most familiar species in Canada is the Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens. It is also the most common woodpecker in eastern North America. This woodpecker is black and white with a broad white stripe down the back from the shoulders to the rump.
The crown of the head is black; the cheeks and neck are adorned with black and white lines. Male and female Downy Woodpeckers are about the same size, weighing from 21 to 28 g. The male has a small scarlet patch, like a red pompom, at the back of the crown. The Downy Woodpecker looks much like the larger Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus , but there are some differences between them.
The Downy is about 6 cm smaller than the Hairy, measuring only 15 to 18 cm from the tip of its bill to the tip of its tail.
Woodpeckers are a family of birds sharing several characteristics that separate them from other avian families. Most of the special features of their anatomy are associated with the ability to dig holes in wood. The straight, chisel-shaped bill is formed of strong bone overlaid with a hard covering and is quite broad at the nostrils in order to spread the force of pecking. A covering of feathers over the nostrils keeps out pieces of wood and wood powder.
The pelvic bones are wide, allowing for attachment of muscles strong enough to move and hold the tail, which is important for climbing. Another special anatomical trait of woodpeckers is the long, barbed tongue that searches crevices and cracks for food.
The salivary glands produce a sticky, glue-like substance that coats the tongue and, along with the barbs, makes the tongue an efficient device for capturing insects. Signs and sounds. As early as February or March a Downy Woodpecker pair indicate that they are occupying their nesting site by flying around it and by drumming short, fast tattoos with their bills on dry twigs or other resonant objects scattered about the territory.
The drumming serves as a means of communication between the members of the pair as well. Downys also have a variety of calls. They utter a tick, tchick, tcherrick , and both the male and the female add a sharp whinnying call during the nesting season. Hatchlings give a low, rhythmic pip note, which seems to indicate contentment. When a parent enters the nest cavity, the nestlings utter a rasping begging call, which becomes stronger and longer as the chicks mature. The scientific name for the Ruffed Grouse is Bonasa umbellus.
Both terms are from the Latin: Bonasa means good when roasted and umbellus , a sunshade. This refers to the ruff or dark-coloured neck feathers that are particularly large in the male.
When he is in display before the female, these are erected and surround his head almost like an umbrella. By nodding his head and ruffs, and spreading his tail and strutting, the male identifies himself to the female and encourages her advances.
The male Ruffed Grouse is about the size of a bantam chicken and weighs about g. The females are smaller. Unlike the chicken, the grouse has a broad flat tail that is usually held down but that may be erected and spread into a half circle. The dappled and barred plumage ranges in colour from pale grey through sombre red to rich mahogany. In the east, most grouse are predominantly grey, although some are red. Greys are in the majority in the central parts of the continent, and on the west coast most grouse are reddish brown.
The colours worn by the grouse are related to their habitat: the dark-coloured grouse inhabit dark forest, as on the coast; grey grouse live in lighter bush. This camouflage helps protect the grouse from their predators. Males are hard to tell from females at a distance, but they are larger with larger ruffs and a longer tail. In the male the broad band of dark colour in the tail is usually unbroken.
The Ruffed Grouse is only distantly related to the Gray Partridge, which is a bird of open areas, not woodlands.
One of the heaviest of North American owls, the Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus stands nearly half a metre tall, with a wingspan of almost 1.
As is the case with most diurnal birds of prey—those that are active during the day—the female is larger and heavier than the male. The average weight of the female is 2. Adult males may be almost pure white in colour. Adult females are darker, their white feathers barred with dark brown. First-year birds of both sexes are more darkly marked than their adult counterparts.
Immature males resemble adult females, and immature females are heavily barred and may appear dark grey when seen from a distance. The light coloration of Snowy Owls provides camouflage when the owls are perched on snow, but this advantage is lost in summer.
As spring approaches and the ground becomes bare, Snowy Owls move to sit on patches of snow or ice. No one knows whether they do this to camouflage themselves or whether they are merely keeping insects away or staying cool. In strong wind, Snowy Owls may seek shelter by crouching on the ground behind a windbreak, such as a pile of stones, snowdrift, or bale of hay.
Of the 19 species of raptors, or birds of prey, in Canada, three are Accipiters. Accipiters are small to medium-sized hawks of swift flight that occur around the world. Accipiters can be distinguished from other types of hawks by their flight silhouettes see sketch.
Like the buteos e. In contrast, the wings of another group of hawks, the falcons, such as the Kestrel or Sparrow Hawk Falco sparverius , are pointed. All accipiters generally have similar colouring, small heads, long tails, and short rounded wings. The female of each species grows larger than the male. They range in size from the small male Sharp-shinned Hawk, which is smaller than a gull, to the large female Northern Goshawk, which at 55 to 66 cm is larger than a crow.
Skip to main content. Photo: Thinkstock. Paul Goossen. Tweet Print. The Great Lakes population of the piping plover was at a perilously low level. But intensive conservation efforts have seen the number of breeding pairs steadily climb from a low of 12 in Also, the breeding range has expanded from Michigan into Wisconsin and Canada.
Photo by U. The piping plover in the Great Lakes area is an endangered species. Endangered species are animals and plants that are in danger of becoming extinct. The Northern Great Plains and Atlantic coast piping plovers are threatened species. Threatened species are animals and plants that are likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future.
Identifying, protecting, and restoring endangered and threatened species is the primary objective of the U. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species program. Scientific Name - Charadrius melodus. Appearance - These small, stocky shorebirds have a sand-colored upper body, a white underside, and orange legs. During the breeding season, adults have a black forehead, a black breast band, and an orange bill. Habitat - Piping plovers use wide, flat, open, sandy beaches with very little grass or other vegetation.
In recent decades, piping plover populations have drastically declined, especially in the Great Lakes. Breeding habitat has been replaced with shoreline development and recreation.
Availability of quality foraging and roosting habitat in the wintering grounds is necessary in order to ensure that an adequate number of adults survive to migrate back to breeding sites and successfully nest. For more information, visit our web sites at: plover. You may also telephone: Division of Endangered Species for the breeding habitat area - ; for the wintering habitat area, telephone For more information: The U. All About Piping Plovers Piping plovers Charadrius melodus are small shorebirds approximately seven inches long with sand-colored plumage on their backs and crown and white underparts.
Piping Plover Range.
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