There's a New Kid in Town! New Montrose Beach Dunes Great Lakes Piping Plover Couple, Imani & Searocket, Welcome First Chick

Four eggs in total are expected to hatch soon after a month-long incubation period; New brood to help boost the regional bird population and reduce extinction risk.

This morning, the Chicago Park District, with our partners the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Chicago Piping Plovers Watch volunteer group, are excited to announce that the first of four eggs laid by Piping Plover Searocket hatches and the chick emerges from its egg to explore its new home on the Montrose Beach Dunes shoreline, near the newly named Monty and Rose Wildlife Habitat.

WHERE: Montrose Beach Dunes, 900 W. Montrose Harbor Dr.

WHEN: First chick hatched, next three eggs are expected to hatch soon.

MORE: The experiment worked! Searocket returned to mate with Imani, and to start their new brood. The eggs are products of the recent pair bond between native-born Piping Plover Imani, who hatched at Montrose in 2021, and Searocket, one of the 5-week-old captive-reared Piping Plover chicks that were released back into the wild at Montrose in July 2023.

In a successful scenario, the released chicks would return to Montrose Beach Dunes to nest. Documented migration suggests that captive-reared chicks are more likely to return to their release beach the following spring.

The Chicago Park District will continue to work with partners to monitor the protected fenced area near their nest to ward off and deter predators from approaching. All staff and volunteers on watch will wear highly visible gear when inside the Natural Area and along the shoreline.

We ask that patrons help keep the newly hatched chick, the nest and remaining eggs safe by respecting closed area boundaries, keeping dogs on leashes, and taking trash with them at the end of their beach visit.