SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Sept. 22, 2026) —For a decade, the Santa Barbara Zoo has been helping give threatened western snowy plovers (Anarhynchus nivosus nivosus) a second chance in the wild. On September 22, the Zoo reached a major milestone: more than 200 snowy plovers have been released back into the wild through the Zoo’s conservation program.
For the past 10 years, the Santa Barbara Zoo has worked alongside conservation partners including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, California State Parks, UCSB Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve, Naval Base Ventura County, Point Blue Conservation Science, Vandenberg Spaceforce Base, San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory, Ventura Audubon Society, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific, and Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network to give these vulnerable birds the care they need to survive, grow and return to the wild. From incubating eggs and caring for chicks to rehabilitating adult birds, the Zoo’s animal care and conservation teams provide specialized expertise throughout the birds’ journey back to the coast.
The Zoo’s latest release this week at UCSB Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve (COPR) included 11 snowy plovers outfitted with state-of-the-art tracking devices from Cellular Tracking Technologies (CTT), allowing conservationists to gather valuable information about their movements and survival after release.
“It’s so rewarding to be able to take a step back and consider the impact that releasing 212 plovers has made toward recovering the western snowy plover,” says Nadya Seal Faith, Conservation & Science Associate. “But now it’s even more exciting that we are taking our program to the next level by entering a new technological era that will enable us to better understand how these plovers are supporting wild populations and allow us to help inform management options going forward.”
The Zoo provides specialized daily care and veterinary expertise for plovers throughout their rehabilitation, from incubation and hatching to development and release. The Zoo also recently became a Master Banding Station, which allows permitted Zoo staff to attach colored leg bands and tags to plovers that meet release criteria to help monitor their movements and survivorship after release. Prior to becoming a Master Banding Station, the Zoo partnered with Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area to band Zoo-released plovers.
Through the Zoo’s banding program, released birds have been observed nesting as far south as San Diego and have even been spotted as far north as the Oregon coast. While the colored leg banding program has been tremendous in understanding post-release plover behavior, the new Motus tags have the potential to increase detection rates exponentially and give conservationists insights that had previously been out of reach.
The tiny shorebirds, listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, are brought to the Zoo from beaches within the tri-county area as either eggs, chicks, or adults as a result of immediate life-threatening situations. Western snowy plover nesting season is typically between March and September. Plovers lay their eggs directly on sandy beaches where their highly camouflaged eggs and chicks help them avoid predation threats, but make them difficult to see by beachgoers. At the same time, urbanization has greatly increased gull, corvid, and raptor populations, which in turn has increased predation risk to this vulnerable species. Beach recreation, dogs, habitat loss, predators and accidental nest disturbance all pose threats to plover recovery.
Beachgoers can help protect threatened western snowy plovers by:
- Staying outside roped-off nesting areas from March through September
- Keeping dogs leashed and using designated dog beaches
- Avoiding using kites and drones near plover nesting areas
- Packing out food scraps that can attract predators
The Santa Barbara Zoo’s Western Snowy Plover Conservation Program is part of its broader commitment to protecting wildlife and wild places, both locally and beyond. To learn more about the conservation work the Santa Barbara Zoo is doing, visit: https://www.sbzoo.org/conservation.
Western Snowy Plover Fast Facts:
- Status: Threatened under the Endangered Species Act
- Range: Oregon down to the coastline of Baja, Mexico
- Size: 5-7 inches tall, weighing less than 2 ounces
- Number of birds in wild: 3,000+ range-wide
- Conservation Program: Santa Barbara Zoo received its first plovers in 2016
- Number of releases: To date, the Santa Barbara Zoo has been involved in releasing 212 plovers back to the beach. This year, the Zoo took in 69 eggs and chicks and released 42 individuals.
- Threats: Human impact, habitat loss, nest danger and predation.
- Tracking: Plovers are part of the Motus network, a global collaborative research community that uses automated tracking towers to follow the movement and behaviour of small animals, like birds, bats, and insects.
ABOUT SANTA BARBARA ZOO
The Santa Barbara Zoo is a leader in wildlife conservation, education, and community engagement, advancing efforts to conserve biodiversity and ecosystems in California and around the world. Beautifully located on 30 acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Zoo is home to more than 360 animals representing over 97 species in open, naturalistic habitats designed to support animal wellbeing and conservation learning, all in service of its mission to conserve the natural world through education, science, and unforgettable experiences.
