The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small shorebird found only in North America, breeding locally in suitable habitat throughout its range. The two major breeding populations on the continent occur along the east coast from Virginia to Newfoundland and in the prairies of Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota northward into the prairie provinces of Canada; a very small population occurs locally along the shores of the Great Lakes. The major winter areas are along the Atlantic Coast from Virginia southward and along the Gulf Coast (see Haig and Oring 1985).