Of all the shorebirds that visit Michigan, the piping plover is unique. This small, robin-size bird is the color of dry sand on its back and wings, with a white underbelly. It sports a narrow black band across its forehead, has orange-yellow legs and its very short, stout bill is orange with a black tip. Piping plovers have an endearing "peep-lo" call and a rapid "peck-and-run" behavior that is almost comical to watch.

The Great Lakes population of piping plovers was listed as federally endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 1986 when it fell to 17 breeding pairs. Although the population has almost quadrupled to 63 breeding pairs since listing, the population remains extremely vulnerable to both natural and human-caused disturbances.

Piping plovers prefer fairly wide, sandy, open beaches along the Great Lakes with sparse vegetation and scattered cobble for nesting. Threats to plovers include predation, nest abandonment and continued shoreline development.

"Human disturbance, primarily due to a lack of awareness, is a major problem," said Sherry MacKinnon, a wildlife ecologist for the Department of Natural Resources in the eastern Upper Peninsula.

At the current population level, the reproductive success of each breeding pair is vitally important to the recovery of the species.

"A multifaceted approach is necessary to its successful recovery," Mackinnon said. "No one agency or group can take on the species-recovery agenda alone, so partnerships between government organizations and conservationists are very important."

The list of ongoing, multi-agency partnerships, MacKinnon added, is a long one, involving the National Park Service (Sleeping Bear Dunes, Indiana Dunes, Pictured Rocks and Apostle Islands National Lakeshores), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, tribal governments (The Little Traverse Bay of Odawa Indians), universities (University of Michigan, Lake Superior State University, University of Minnesota), conservancy groups (The Nature Conservancy and Central Lake Superior Land Conservancy), and zoological parks across the country, especially the Detroit Zoo.

"Several big partnerships have developed through the years that have contributed to the success of the piping plover population in the Great Lakes region," said Christie Deloria-Sheffield of the U.S .Fish and Wildlife Service. "Volunteers also provide essential support to recovery efforts."

In 2007, volunteers put in more than a thousand hours during the breeding season, providing valuable assistance to researchers and managers.

According to Deloria-Sheffield, roughly a third of piping plovers in the Great Lakes' population nest on privately owned shoreline areas. Unlike publicly owned lands, where large expanses of beach are closed to human entry during the breeding season, closing privately owned beaches is not possible.

Continuous human presence provides challenges to piping plover recovery. Efforts to protect nests from disturbances on private lands rely mainly on outreach efforts, voluntary landowner permission for nest protection, and continuous staff presence on beaches to help inform landowners and beach users of plover presence.

"The support that individual volunteers give to the program, especially on private land, is critical," Deloria-Sheffield said.

One of the more recent and exciting partnerships contributing to piping plover breeding success is the development of a captive-rearing facility, which is housed at the University of Michigan Biological Station at Pellston and staffed throughout the summer months.

The effort, now in its eighth year, was organized by Tom Schneider, bird curator at the Detroit Zoo, and bird experts from 11 zoos across the country, including the Brookfield Zoo (Chicago), Denver Zoo, Disney's Animal Kingdom (Orlando), John Ball Zoo (Grand Rapids), San Diego Zoo and the Toledo Zoo.

Although natural reproduction of wild birds is preferable, MacKinnon said it sometimes is necessary to remove eggs from nests that have been abandoned or if the nest cups have been washed out by storms.

When these events are discovered, the eggs are rapidly transported to the captive rearing facility, where they are placed into a climate-controlled incubator until they hatch.

Staffers then move the chicks into a small pen designed to mimic a beach environment complete with sand and cobble-sized rocks. The piping plover chicks, which can forage on their own within hours of hatching, are quickly introduced to their first meal of insects in the pen.

As the chicks near fledging age, they are relocated to a larger pen at the edge of Douglas Lake, where they are able to stretch their wings and forage for food in a more natural environment.

"When they reach that age when most piping plovers can fly, staffers will release the birds at a wild site where other plovers are fledging," MacKinnon said. "It's truly a momentous occasion for their keepers."

In 2007, the captive-rearing facility was able to successfully release 12 fledglings -- birds that otherwise would not have survived but now have been reintroduced into the wild to contribute to the Great Lakes' piping plover breeding population. This year's count could reach 30 birds.

Without the numerous hours worked and donated by monitors and volunteers in all facets of plover biology, our knowledge of the nesting season would be dramatically decreased and far fewer of the birds would be found on our beaches.