Disappearing sand dunes and plovers

Ocean / Sea

Surface Waters / Wetlands

Land

Sea/Land Level Change

Hooper Bay, Alaska, United States

Nearby

Sand dunes disappear with more frequent and powerful storms in Western Alaska. These storms have impacted bird nesting grounds and tundra plants.

Observation from Sandra Hill:

I grew up here in Hooper Bay, Alaska doing subsistence activities. I've noticed many changes in my life, so far. One is erosion. When I was a small girl, there used to be 5 rows of dunes along our coast. Now, there's only 2 on the west side, and sadly, only 1 row on the Southside.

After Merbok, we lost so much coastline, and saltwater flooded our land. I no longer see a type of green I used to gather among the dunes. I also no longer hear or see the American Plover which used to nest in the dunes. They've always nested here along our immediate coast, but because of the loss of the dunes, they're not nesting here anymore. I don't see or hear a single one this summer. People have seen them, but they go north of us, so they're still nesting in the area, but no longer among the dunes I grew up in.

Update - Sandra writes:

I did find a late pair of plovers nesting in the dunes after all. My guess is that was their second clutch. For a pair to nest so late could only mean their first clutch was found and taken. The plovers are too rare to see up close. The ones here resemble to Pacific Golden Plover the most. We also have semipalmated plovers that nest along the beach, and sometimes on hard tundra. I'm sure you have the right name for it, we call it nunapik. Those are also becoming rare because of human interaction.

LEO Says:

The impacts from Merbok continue to change our landscape. We reached out to USGS in Anchorage. There are four different species of plovers. Here are a few interesting characteristics of plovers by USGS: Semipalmated Plovers are small and look a lot different than the other three but they do like to nest in dunes. Black-bellied Plovers are large and noisy during breeding and they also nest near the coast but more likely in tundra patches. The two species of golden plovers, one of which is American Golden-Plovers Pacific, tend to nest in tundra habitats. Pacific Golden-Plovers look a lot like Americans but they both have distinct calls and breeding displays. For more details on each species and a paper on the vast diversity of Arctic-breeding shorebirds in the climate sensitive Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta navigate the links in the sidebar.

Semipalmated plover

Flickrflickr.com

The cheerful whistle of a Semipalmated Plover coursing over a mudflat or picking through a plowed field is often the first sign that these small shorebirds are present. They look like miniature Killdeer, but with only one black band across the breast. Their brown backs blend especially well with dark backgrounds, but their run-and-stop foraging style helps to pick them out. These alert foragers tend to stick to mudflats, sandbars, and fields rather than steep or rocky beaches.

Pacific Golden-Plover Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

During the breeding season, Pacific Golden-Plovers dazzle with gold-spangled feathers and a jet-black face and breast. These graceful, long-winged shorebirds breed on arctic tundra, usually in lower, wetter slopes than the closely related American Golden-Plover. Both species perform fluttery courtship flights, giving mellow calls. After breeding, Pacific Golden-Plovers head far out over the sea to spend winters as far away as Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Southeast Asia, and the Horn of Africa.

Black-bellied Plover Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

In breeding plumage, Black-bellied Plovers are a dazzling mix of snow white and jet black, accented by checkerboard wings. They are supreme aerialists, both agile and swift, and are readily identified at great distance by black axillaries (“armpit” feathers) in all plumages—and by their distinctive, mournful-sounding call. The largest and heaviest of North American plovers, Black-bellied is also the hardiest, breeding farther north than other species, at the very top of the world. It is also a very widespread shorebird, occurring on six continents.

American Golden-Plover Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

An American Golden-Plover in breeding plumage, with its simple black-and-white body set off by shimmering gold-flecked wings, can rival any shorebird for sheer beauty. In the nonbreeding season they are a more subdued, speckled brown with a pale eyebrow. These trim, slender-billed shorebirds hunt in tundra, grasslands, and fields by running a short distance and then stopping abruptly to look for insects and other small prey. On their arctic breeding grounds, male American Golden-Plovers give a complex “butterfly” flight display accompanied by a rhythmic song.