WEEKEND TALKER: Dead Birds have Feathers Flying on Cape Cod

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Audubon officials are investigating the deaths of three piping plover chicks found in a roped off area on Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, MA this week.  The federally protected birds were only three days old.  Right now officials don't believe a predator was to blame, because the chicks were not eaten.  Discarded alcohol containers and evidence of a bonfire were also found nearby.  The maximum penalty for killing the tiny shorebirds is a $100,000 fine and imprisonment for up to a year.

According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Piping Plovers are listed as a threatened species, which means they are likely to become endangered in the future.  Due to that status, vast portions of Cape Cod beaches are roped off each summer during the nesting season which happens to coincide with the arrival of tourists.  Some beaches have to ban four wheel drive access until the chicks leave the nest.

All this has caused debate on the Cape about how man and bird should coexist.  Some are decidedly "Plover Lovers" others display bumper stickers with the slogan "Piping Plover... Tastes like Chicken."

So Gather Members, what do you think about this?  Is another species in your area causing a similar debate?  Let us know.