Why do they wear color bands?
Biologists use color bands to identify individual plovers, each with its own unique color combination.
Observation of color banded individuals has shown that snowy plovers return to their same wintering habitats year after year, a trait known as “site fidelity.” Once bonded to a wintering site, snowy plovers will remain faithful to that site regardless of adverse conditions. For this reason, it is important to avoid subjecting plovers to undue disturbances or habitat degradation.
As the rangewide population increases, we can expect our local population to increase too.
Experts believe that some areas of San Francisco’s shoreline and dunes offer the necessary conditions for breeding to occur. As the species recovers and the population grows, a similar increase in the local population is expected, and nesting activity is surely possible.