Western snowy plover chicks. Photo by USFWS

Audubon California's Sharing Our Shores program is protecting threatened shorebirds by educating the public about nesting locations on our beaches and how we can minimize disturbing parents and chicks during breeding season. Our partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided an overview of how government agencies and nonprofits are working together to increase the numbers of California Least Terns and Western Snowy Plovers.

Student participants in the Sharing Our Shores program led by Ventura Audubon Society. Photo by USFWS.

Many coastal Audubon chapters create shorebird programs in local elementary schools and ask  students to create signs to put on beaches to protect nests. These signs are more effective than official, government signs in acquiring compliance from the public.

Check out the feature story Nesting Season Begins for Threatened and Endangered Shorebirds along California coast via the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office.