UPTOWN — After a turbulent but successful summer at Montrose Beach, piping plovers Monty and Rose have bid farewell to Chicago and landed in their winter homes.
Piping plover patriarch Monty was spotted Monday in southern Texas, where the migratory bird spends his winters. He made the trip in less than 53 hours, according to the Chicago Piping Plover Twitter account.
Rose previously left and landed at her winter home in Florida, according to the Montrose Dunes Volunteers group.
Monty and Rose’s two chicks, Siewka and Imani, remain at Montrose Beach as they gear up for their first migration south. The chicks have been seen flying from their home base at Montrose Beach, with Imani checking out the nearby dog beach and even Waukegan Beach.
Monty and Rose’s migrations mark another successful summer for the endangered birds that have made Montrose Beach their seasonal home.
The birds came to Montrose for the third straight summer, but their first nest was attacked by a skunk, which ate the birds’ eggs. The plover couple rebounded and made a new nest, laying four eggs. Three of them hatched naturally, but the fourth was rushed to Lincoln Park Zoo and hatched with the help of zoo staff.
Only two of the four chicks — Siewka and Imani — survived. The other two likely perished at the hands of predators, the birds’ volunteer stewards said.
Siewka and Imani will create their own migratory patterns. Nish, one of Monty and Rose’s chicks born last year, has landed and nested near Toledo, Ohio. It is the first time plovers have nested in Ohio in 83 years, according to the Chicago Tribune.
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