Thank you John, Ron and Brush! I now understand the biologically correct meaning of "chick". I DID mean a juvenile that looks like it hatched this year, not a non-flying dependent "chick". I apologize for the confusion, I did not mean or even think the Black-bellied Plover could have nested here :) Good to know this years hatch could be here already. Still learning, Stennie Meadours San Leon In a message dated 7/25/2013 3:19:52 P.M. Central Daylight Time, jarvin@xxxxxxxx writes: Hi Stennie, It depends on what you mean by "chick" on the plovers. To me a "chick" is a recently hatched bird that is still dependent on its parents. If you mean a more mature but still lacking adult plumage then yes, they could have already migrated to the Texas coast. If you really mean the former, however, that's another thing entirely. Black-bellied Plover nests on the highish Arctic tundra. A nesting on the Texas coast (which "chick" implies) would be unprecedented. jca John C. Arvin Research Associate Gulf Coast Bird Observatory 103 West Hwy 332 Lake Jackson, TX 77566 jarvin@xxxxxxxx www.gcbo.org Austin, Texas ____________________________________ From: Stenmead@xxxxxxx Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 11:29 AM To: texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, jmassey@xxxxxxxxxxx, sheath@xxxxxxxx Subject: [texbirds] RFI: Black-bellied Plover chicks and one-winged White Pelican near Texas City All, Paula Kennedy and I, as volunteers, have been conducting Oystercatcher nest monitoring surveys under GCBA's Dr. Sue Heath's oversight on a small spit just north of the Texas City Flood Gates shown as Miller Point since March. Yesterday, we saw two Black-bellied Plover chicks, first year hatch, standing and flying with a breeding plumaged adult. My question: Have these chicks and parent migrated to the UTC already, and is this unusual? I have loaned out "Birdlife of Houston, Galveston and the UTC", or I would check there first. Also, there was a lone non-breeding plumaged What Pelican swimming around the area. Upon a closer look, Paula noticed that one wing was missing and with a good scope view the missing wing appeared to be completely healed with no sign of an open wound. Does anyone know anything about this"one-winged" bird? Finally, we observed and removed one fishing line with hook that was responsible for the death of a Royal Tern and Laughing gull. There are also carcasses of a female Red-breasted Merganser, and Oystercatcher on this spit. What is needed to retrieve these carcasses for their skull and bill for use in educational programs? Stennie Meadours San Leon Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner