Western Snowy Plovers Nest at California Reserve for First Time in 40 Years

Western snowy plovers have returned to nesting at Coal Oil Point Reserve in California after an absence of roughly four decades. A collaborative conservation effort between the Santa Barbara Zoo, UC Santa Barbara, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been behind the recovery. Since 2016, the programme has released a total of 212 birds into the reserve. This year, 11 of the released plovers were equipped with radio and Bluetooth tracking devices to help researchers monitor their movements and survival rates.