TRAVERSE CITY, MI (AP)-- A wildlife expert says one of the state's endangered species will soon return to Michigan after spending winter in a warmer climate.
Vince Cavelieri of the U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service tells The Grand Rapids Press that pairs of Piping Plovers are expected to return to the dunes and shores of the Great Lakes in the coming weeks. He says the birds typically are spotted beginning the week of April 6.
Piping Plovers were first listed as an endangered species in 1985 and their populations continued to dwindle until 1990.
Now researchers, conservationists and volunteers are working to protect the species by surveying nesting areas and tracking the birds.
About 70 pairs of Piping Plovers currently nest in the Great Lakes region.