KENNEBUNK (AP) — Environmental officials in Maine say the first nests of threatened piping plovers for the 2015 season have been found.
Maine Audubon and Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge say the nests were found in Biddeford and Kennebunk. The federal Fish and Wildlife Service and state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are asking beachgoers and landowners from Ogunquit to Georgetown to assist in a productive nesting season for the birds.
Piping plovers are protected as “endangered” in Maine and as “threatened” under federal law. Federal officials ask that pets be leashed and controlled on beaches with plovers between April 1 and Aug. 31. Some areas also prohibit dogs during this time.
Officials say there were about two dozen surviving plover chicks in 2005 and nearly 100 last year.
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