By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has scheduled a meeting on July 24 at Biddeford City Hall for landowners in Hills Beach to learn about a proposal to designate the area an essential habitat for piping plovers.  

Letters were sent in early July to landowners, including the city of Biddeford, outlining what essential habitats are and why they are important. According to the letter, the department has the ability to designate essential habitats “for areas that currently or historically provide physical or biological features essential for conserving an endangered or threatened species in Maine” under the state’s Endangered Species Act. 

Tudor said the department is proposing essential habitats in Old Orchard Beach and Cape Elizabeth. In Old Orchard Beach, an essential habitat would be extended to new nesting areas. A meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 30 at Old Orchard Beach Town Hall.

The new Cape Elizabeth essential habitat near Ram Island would essentially be an extension of a habitat in Scarborough, Tudor said. A meeting in Cape Elizabeth has yet to be scheduled.

The essential habitat designation does not impose additional permits or fees for building or land use projects. However, the designation does call for the department to review any project within the habitat that requires a state or municipal permit or license, according to the letter.

Biddeford City Manager John Bubier said the city did not speak with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife prior to receiving the letter. He does not consider Hills Beach to be a high-build area because of existing structures and lack of open space.  

“It doesn’t appear from a building permit point of view that Hills Beach has changed much in recent years,” he said. 

Lindsey Tudor, a wildlife biologist for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife who drafted the letter, said there are currently no piping plovers nesting on Hills Beach, though there have been in recent years.

“That’s enough to warrant protection,” she said.

Tudor said piping plovers nested on Hills Beach each year from 2002 to 2007. In 2002, one pair fledged one chick; one pair was unsuccessful in fledging in 2003; one pair fledged two chicks in 2004; two pairs fledged one chick in 2005 and 2006; and one pair was unsuccessful in 2007. The birds begin arriving in Maine by early April and stay until September. 

The piping plover is a state-listed endangered species and a federally listed threatened species struggling to survive in Maine. Due to recent habitat loss from spring storms and predation, the population has decreased from 66 pairs in 2002 to 19 pairs in 2008, according to Tudor’s letter. 

Tudor said piping plovers  nest on white sandy beaches, which also tend to be the most heavily used beaches in southern Maine. The birds, she said, see everything around them as a threat — from people to pets to kites. 

“There’s a lot of stress,” she said. “It’s a disturbance issue which has caused numbers to decline.”

Piping plover chicks are very vulnerable, especially during their first week, Tudor said. The chicks need to eat constantly and wander from the nest. The birds freeze if they sense danger, making them almost invisible in the sand. People should not pick up or touch the birds.

Piping plovers are less likely to return to an unsuccessful nesting location the following year, according to Jordan Kramer, a field biologist with the Maine Piping Plover and Least Tern Recovery Project. He said there is a good possibility the birds could return to Hills Beach in the future because the area is generally a favorable one for shore birds. 

“Last year was a pretty tough year given the storms and habitat loss,” Kramer said. 

As part of the Piping Plover and Least Tern Recovery Project, fences are built around areas inhabited by piping plovers. Cages are then built around nests. Still, people get close to the areas, Kramer said. 

“Generally it’s good that people see them, especially from a distance,” he said. “As soon as people see the birds they are won over.”