Environment

Audubon Society: Avoid piping plover areas

On beaches across the North Fork piping plovers are beginning to hatch, and the North Fork Audubon Society wants everyone to know they’re out there and to be careful not to disturb their nests.

The chicks are hatching this week, Jennifer Murray of the society said, and people need to be careful when they walk on beaches, and respect the signs and fencing around nesting areas.

In particular, she said, it’s important to keep dogs leashed and, if they need to run, take them to dog-friendly parks and not to beaches where there are nesting areas.

Plover chicks, Ms. Murray said, “don’t fly until they are about a month old and their defense against predators is to just hunker down and look like a rock, and they can get stepped on.”

The piping plover is a federally protected bird species.