Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus, “plover”) are beach-nesting shorebirds that occupy their breeding range from about April to August. When arrive on the grounds, they select and defend territories, lay incubate eggs, tend precocial broods; additionally, adults can return a non-breeding stage after final nest failure or chicks have fledged died. We hypothesized habitat selection would differ a...

INTRODUCTION Habitat selection by animals has been defined as the active choice of an area from a range of alternatives in the absence of constraints (Partridge 1978). In reality, no area is free of constraints and habitat selection depends on the physical structure of the environment, the physiology of the animal, food availability and protection from predators (Ward & Lubin, 1993). There are ...