Our Threatened & Endangered Species: Piping Plovers

For over half a century, the Piping Plover was gone from Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie shoreline as a nesting species. Then, in 2017, something remarkable happened.
A small shorebird returned to Presque Isle State Park—and with it came a second chance.
This film follows the Piping Plover’s return to Pennsylvania and the people who have spent decades working to give this federally endangered species a future. From the first returning birds to the challenges of nesting on one of Pennsylvania’s busiest beaches, we go into the field with biologists, researchers, and conservationists as they work to protect one of North America’s most vulnerable shorebirds.
But this is more than a story about a bird. It is a story about what happens when we lose something—and what happens when we have the opportunity to bring it back.
For ten years, the Piping Plover has been watched, protected, studied, and celebrated along the shores of Lake Erie. Its return has brought new questions, new challenges, and perhaps most importantly, hope.

🎬 ABOUT THE FILM
"Piping Plovers" is a conservation documentary exploring the return of the Piping Plover as a nesting species in Pennsylvania.
The film combines more than a decade of field observations with intimate wildlife footage and the stories of the people working to protect these remarkable birds.
Produced in partnership with conservation professionals and filmed in the places where this story is unfolding.

🪶 ABOUT THE PIPING PLOVER
The Piping Plover is a small, sand-colored shorebird that nests on beaches and shorelines as three distinct breeding populations in North America. The Great Lakes population is the most imperiled. It's remarkable camouflage helps it disappear into the sand—but habitat loss, disturbance, predation, and other threats have placed the species at risk.
At Presque Isle State Park, conservation efforts have helped create an opportunity for the species to return and reproduce.
Filmed at Presque Isle State Park and along Pennsylvania’s Lake Erie shoreline.

If you enjoyed the film, please share it. The more people who understand the story of the Piping Plover and the plight of threatened and endangered species—and the work required to protect them—the greater the chance that the plover's second chance will last.