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Distribution <br />Historically, Piping Plovers bred across three geographic <br />regions.: 1) U.S, and Canadian Northern Great Plains from Alberta <br />to Manitoba, and south to Nebraska; 2) Great Lakes beaches; and <br />3) Atlantic coastal beaches from Newfoundland to North Carolina. <br />Winter sites were not well described, although Piping Plovers <br />were generally seen along the Gulf of Mexico, on southern U.S. <br />Atlantic coastal beaches from North Carolina to Florida, in <br />eastern Mexico, and on scattered Caribbean Islands (Haig and <br />Oring 1985). <br />Currently, the species' range remains similar to historic <br />range accounts except that Piping Plovers breeding in the Great <br />Lakes have almost disappeared (Figure 1, Table 1, Haig and Oring <br />1988b). In 1986, northern Michigan had the only viable breeding <br />population of Piping Plovers in the Great Lakes area. Data on <br />wintering birds are so sparse it is difficult to determine if <br />loss of nonbreeding sites has occurred. Migratory routes have <br />not been described. <br />Historic Distribution <br />Historic distribution and census data are sporadic in some <br />regions or altogether lacking for others. Comprehensive <br />censusing efforts began after 1980. The information presented <br />here represents a summary of museum records and historic accounts <br />for the distribution of the species prior to 1980 (documented in <br />Haig 1986a). <br />4 <br />