Predator Control for the Protection of the Federally Endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) at Dimmick’s Point, North Manitou Island

Authors

Kimberly Struthers, National Park Service-Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI, USA
Patrick Ryan, USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Services, Gaylord, MI, USA

Date of this Version

2005

Comments

Published in Proceedings of the 11th Wildlife Damage Management Conference. (D.L. Nolte, K.A. Fagerstone, Eds). 2005.

Abstract

The recovery plan for the federally endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) identifies the need for predator control/removal to increase Piping Plover chick fledging success. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services entered into an interagency agreement with the National Park Service to conduct predator management on North Manitou Island (NMI), Dimmick’s Point, located in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, during the 2003-2005 field seasons. Six control methods were used to remove American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), Common Raven (Corvus corax), Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), and Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) species. Preliminary results seem to suggest that predator control has had some positive benefits for the Piping Plover fledging success on NMI.