LEWES, Del. — Delaware’s piping plover population saw a record number of nesting pairs at Cape Henlopen State Park this summer, but overall breeding success dropped amid predation and harsh weather, according to the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
Biologists with DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded nine pairs of nesting piping plovers at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park — the highest number since monitoring efforts began. There were seven pairs in 2024. When combined with 21 pairs at Fowler Beach in Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, the state recorded 30 nesting piping plover pairs in 2025.
The piping plover is listed as a state-endangered species in Delaware by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The increase in nesting pairs marks a positive trend for this federally listed threatened species, which is also considered endangered in Delaware. Since 2016, when Fowler Beach was restored following Hurricane Sandy, pair numbers have trended upward. The count peaked at 31 pairs in 2023 before falling to 24 in 2024 and rebounding slightly this year.
“We also saw breeding adults that had high success in 2024 returning to Delaware this spring, as well as some new birds, and some second and third year birds making their first known breeding attempt near their birth sites,” said Katherine “Kat” Christie, DNREC coastal waterbird biologist and leader of the Delaware Shorebird Project.
Still, the 2025 nesting season was not without setbacks. Predation — especially by owls at Fowler Beach, the state’s most densely populated plover nesting area — significantly impacted nesting success. Red foxes, coyotes, ghost crabs, and other predators also contributed to chick and egg loss.
“We saw adult mortalities and attempted predation, like what happened with the rehabilitated plover ‘Nomad,’” Christie said.
Unfavorable weather added to the challenges, with a spike in temperatures in late June possibly leading to the loss of chicks and nests during a critical period.
Despite these obstacles, Delaware’s piping plover conservation work continues through partnerships between DNREC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services.
“Partners are working together to better understand the drivers of population change and behavior,” Christie said, highlighting a study tracking chick and fledgling movements using leg bands.
Those efforts provide vital data about where birds go, how broods survive, and how Delaware’s piping plovers fit into the broader Atlantic Coast population.
Still, overall nesting success declined. In 2025, only 27 chicks reached fledging age (25 days old), down from 41 in 2024. The productivity rate — fledglings per nesting pair — dropped to 1.0 in 2025, compared to 1.71 last year and a long-term goal of 1.5 set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its 1996 recovery plan. That goal has only been met once in Delaware since 2020.
Also of note, no pairs nested at Gordon’s Pond in Cape Henlopen State Park for the second straight year. In 2023, a piping plover nest shut down part of Gordons Pond Beach before being destroyed likely by red foxes.
Other beach-nesting bird updates:
American oystercatchers:
Two pairs nested at The Point, two more at Delaware Seashore State Park, and one pair at Fowler Beach. While some nests successfully hatched, none of the monitored beach nests produced fledglings. However, marsh-nesting pairs in Indian River and Rehoboth Bays fledged five chicks from six nesting pairs.
Least terns:
At The Point, 53 nesting attempts were recorded in 2025, up from just 16 in 2024 and none in 2023. Many nests hatched, but none produced confirmed fledglings, likely due to heat and predation by red foxes and coyotes.
At Fowler Beach, biologists observed 92 incubating adults — a higher count than last year — and confirmed at least 42 fledglings, though more may have survived and left the area after a red fox entered the protected zone.
Nesting areas at The Point and Fowler Beach remain closed through Oct. 1 to protect migrating shorebirds, including young birds making their first southbound journey. Birds observed during monitoring include fledgling piping plovers, American oystercatchers, royal terns, ruddy turnstones, sanderlings, semipalmated plovers, black-bellied plovers, and lesser black-backed gulls.
More information is available at de.gov/beachnesters or by emailing deshorebirds@delaware.gov.