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Nine sightings of seven banded piping plovers confirm that mixing occurs among the <br />nesting areas of the Platte River from year to year. These birds have been spotted <br />occupying nest areas from the lower Platte River near Ashland, the central Platte River <br />area, and Lake McConaughy beaches on the North Platte River (Wingfield 1993). <br />Nesting Biology <br />Least Tern Nesting Biology <br />Least terns usually arrive at breeding areas in Nebraska in late April to mid -May (April <br />24 -May 25 according to Wycoff 1960 in Faanes 1983) and begin to establish feeding <br />areas and nesting territories. Least terns nest in colonies on bare sand/gravel areas near <br />water (Sidle et al. 1991, Kirsch and Lingle 1993a, Sidle and Kirsch 1993). Average <br />nesting colonies in Nebraska have 5 to 10 pairs of least terns (NGPC 1995). Nests are <br />shallow bowls scraped in unconsolidated sand or gravel substrate. <br />Three eggs per clutch are generally laid in the first nest effort. If nesting fails, a breeding <br />pair may re -nest up to two times at new locations, but reduced clutch size is common. <br />For example Lingle (1988) has documented 15 cases of re- nesting in least terns, and in all <br />cases, the clutch size of the second nest was 2 eggs. The incubation period is about 21 <br />days, and all chicks of a nest usually hatch within 24 hours of one another (Kirsch 1990). <br />Chicks are able to move around shortly after hatching, and fledge at approximately 21 <br />days (CNPPID 2002). <br />Piping Plover Nesting Biology <br />In Nebraska, piping plovers arrive on the breeding grounds in late April or early May <br />(April 7 —May 4 according to Bent 1929, Tout 1947 in Faanes 1983). Soon after arrival, <br />males establish a territory that encompasses wet shoreline for feeding and a dry, sandy, <br />relatively flat area for nesting. Nests are shallow scrapes, located on elevated areas with <br />sparsely or unvegetated sand, gravel, or cobble substrate. <br />Mean clutch size among 25 piping plover nests was 4.0 eggs (Faanes 1983). Lingle <br />(1988) reported the average clutch size of piping plovers was 3.7 based on 529 eggs from <br />143 nests. Incubation period for piping plovers is estimated at 24 days (Faanes 1983). <br />Chicks are precocial, and within a few hours after hatching, leave the nest and are <br />capable of running and feeding. Chicks are capable of making short flights at about 20 to <br />25 days of age and are normally fledged by 28 days of age (CNPPID 2002). The life <br />span of a piping plover is thought to average about 3.5 years with maximums of 14 years <br />(NGPC 1995). <br />Foraging Ecology <br />Least Tern Foraging Ecology <br />Draft Baseline Report, July 2002 4 -8 <br />