3 piping plover chicks hatch at Montrose Beach

Three piping plover chicks belonging to Imani and Searocket have hatched at Montrose Beach, according to the Chicago Bird Alliance.

The chicks hatched Sunday at the Montrose Beach days after another trio of plovers hatched in Waukegan.

The chicks hatched roughly a month after the first egg was found in a protected area of Montrose Beach.

The Chicago Park District asks that patrons help keep the newly hatched chicks, the nest and remaining egg safe by respecting closed area boundaries, keeping dogs on leashes, and taking trash with them at the end of their beach visit.

Imani was hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, an offspring of the piping plovers Monty and Rose. Searocket, a captive-reared chick, was released at Montrose Beach in July 2023.

Piping plovers had disappeared from Illinois beaches around 1955, and the first chicks since then hatched in 2019 at Montrose Beach. The bird species is still considered endangered in the Great Lakes region.

Chicks hatch throughout the month of June and into July, according to Great Lakes Piping Plovers.