Chicago’s piping plover family has once again gotten bigger.
On Friday, three of Searocket and Imani’s eggs hatched, two before 6 a.m and another midmorning, according to Tamima Itani, lead plover monitor at Montrose Beach. A fourth egg didn’t hatch and is no longer viable due to the extreme heat, Itani said.
Monitors have seen the chicks running across the beach and darting between spots of shade as visitors have been braving the heat to glimpse the cotton-ball sized hatchlings.
“It’s so exciting to see the eggs hatch and the chicks walk around,” Itani said. “Every time I get to see them, I’m in awe. … And they are incredibly cute. I’m so grateful for their presence at Montrose.”
Despite the air of celebration, memories of heartbreak linger from last year.
Three hatchlings from the second-generation couple died before they reached 2 weeks old.
The first chick was presumed dead on July 10 after it went missing. Volunteer monitors later found its body on the beach with a growth on its neck. The next day, a second chick was found lethargic and struggling and was taken to the Lincoln Park Zoo for warmth, oxygen and fluids, but it too later died.
Days later, the third chick was also taken to Lincoln Park Zoo after it was also seen struggling and died overnight. All three were taken in for necropsies, where it was determined the cause of death was “failure to thrive” — essentially, no specific illness or injury.
Searocket and Imani’s only surviving hatchling, Nagamo, was the last plover to leave in August after learning to fly.
The Great Lakes plover recovery program considers an average of 1.6 chicks per nest a success. Itani said she was still taking it “day to day.”
“We do everything we can do, but at the end of the day these are wild chicks, and they are vulnerable,” Itani said. “It’s literally day to day until they learn to fly and leave, so I will not have a sigh of relief until they can fly, and then I’ll say we fledged three chicks.”
