A Cowboy comes to Queens

On April 10th, I found a banded Piping Plover at Breezy Point in Queens NYC. The bands were not easy to see and I had to spend some time getting close enough to be able to see the color bands well.  This bird had no flags but had the following band and color scheme. Upper Left Upper (Green), Upper Left Lower (Light Blue), Upper Right Upper (Dark Blue) and Upper Right Lower (White).

Fish and Wildlife Services listed Mchelle Stantial as the person to contact for any PIPL with color bands and no flags on the upper legs. After reaching out to her, this is what I learned. This female Piping Plover nicknamed "Cowboy" was banded as a day 1 chick at E.B. Forsythe NWR in 2016. She apparently has decided to try out new frontier by settling in Queens. Lets hope she is successful and raise a brood of her own. If you see a banded Piping Plover, please try and document it as best as you could. Researchers are eager to learn the well being of these birds and value every bit of scientific data.

Tags: Breezy Point, Queens, Shorebird, Piping Plover