Wisconsin Point sees first piping plover nesting in nearly 50 years

A pair of endangered piping plovers has been spotted nesting on Wisconsin Point in Superior, marking the first time the migratory shorebirds have nested in the St. Louis River estuary since 1977.

The nesting occurred on a stretch of sand and cobble specifically designed through a $4.5 million habitat restoration project. This initiative involved collaboration between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the St. Louis River Alliance, and the U.S. EPA, with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

The habitat was created using material dredged from a navigational channel in the Duluth-Superior Harbor in 2019. To protect the birds during their breeding season, the area is closed to the public from April 1 to August 24. The pair consisted of a captive-reared male from Michigan and a female that recently fledged in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.