In Manitoba, the piping plover is most consistently found
nesting on broad, sparsely vegetated beaches along Lake
Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. Piping plover nests are extremely
vulnerable to predation and human disturbance. Threats to
piping plovers include loss of nesting habitat due to cottage
development, use of nesting beaches by cattle, all terrain
vehicles, sunbathers, or other recreationalists, encroachment
of vegetation, and flooding of nests or feeding areas by
periodic high water levels. The nest itself is a mere scrape
in the sand, lined with and camouflaged by larger pebbles.
Piping plovers have been surveyed annually by the Province
since 1986. Numbers vary greatly from year to year due mainly
to fluctuations in water levels and availability of nesting
beaches, but have been declining considerably from approximately
130 birds in 1990 to fewer than 20 birds in recent years.
The Clandeboye Bay Special Conservation Area on Lake Manitoba
was set aside for breeding piping plovers in 1983. A sand
spit with management improvements, located near Grand Rapids
on Lake Winnipeg, was dedicated as the Walter Cook Special
Conservation Area in 1994. The Area designates half the
spit for piping plover nesting only, with the remainder
of the spit to be used by commercial fishermen of the area.
Recently Piping plover protection has become a part of the
Grand Beach Provincial Park Management Plan; to help protect
the birds, park staff fence off nesting areas. The piping
plover was designated as Endangered by Manitoba in 1992.
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