These two.
Who is on the nest, and who is foraging? Both parents incubate the eggs and also brood the chicks. Both parents hunt for food. It is difficult to tell them apart.
Both paintings show female plovers. Look closely and you will see that the brow band doesn’t reach the eyes, and the neck band is clearly broken in front. On male birds that band is wider, unbroken and completely circles the neck. Here is a more detailed example of the differences.
The 2025 State of the Birds report lists Piping Plover as an Orange Alert Tipping Point species, meaning that it has lost more than 50% of its population in the past 50 years and has shown accelerated declines within the past decade. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 8,400 individuals and rates the species a 16 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score. In the Great Lakes region, they are listed as federally Endangered and along the Atlantic Coast and Great Plains they are listed as federally Threatened.
Have you seen them on the beach this summer? If so, you are lucky. It's an uphill struggle to keep these birds coming back each year. Let's be the generation that safeguards these precious birds.
Racing plover and Nesting plover are for sale now at FishCrowStudio.com. along with some other new warbler paintings.
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