Tiny Snowy Plover Chicks Released Back Into the Wild at UCSB’s Coal Oil Point Reserve

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Tiny western snowy plovers got a second chance at life in the wild Tuesday, as the threatened shorebirds were released at UC Santa Barbara’s Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve.

The birds were cared for through a conservation partnership involving Coal Oil Point Reserve and the Santa Barbara Zoo before being returned to the beach.

The release is part of ongoing efforts to restore the western snowy plover population along the Santa Barbara coast.

The Pacific Coast population of the western snowy plover has been listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act since 1993, largely because of habitat loss.

At Coal Oil Point, the birds had disappeared as a breeding population for decades because of heavy beach recreation.

Conservation efforts — including public education, monitoring and symbolic fencing around nesting areas — have helped the birds return. UCSB says Coal Oil Point now averages about 30 fledged snowy plover chicks each year and can host hundreds of plovers during the winter.

From rescued eggs to the beach

Some of the plovers released at Coal Oil Point begin their journey as eggs that would not otherwise survive.

Eggs can be rescued from nests threatened by high tides, predators or other circumstances and transported to the Santa Barbara Zoo for incubation and rearing.

UCSB's 2025 Coal Oil Point newsletter says 25 chicks were raised at the zoo and released at the reserve that year. Combined with chicks that fledged naturally at Coal Oil Point and nearby Ellwood, 88 young plovers joined the local population with the potential to breed the following year.

The conservation program is a long-running collaboration involving researchers, reserve staff, volunteers and zoo personnel.

The goal is ultimately to return the birds to a beach where they can survive and reproduce on their own.

Coal Oil Point Reserve says the snowy plover recovery program began in 2001. Before that effort, the birds had stopped nesting at the site for about three decades.

The reserve continues to monitor nests and chicks and works to reduce human disturbance in areas where the birds breed.

For beachgoers, that means paying attention to symbolic fencing and staying out of protected nesting areas.

The reserve says the birds' nests are well camouflaged and can easily be disturbed or stepped on without the protective measures.

For the newly released plovers, the next step is simple:

Survive, grow and — hopefully — come back to this same stretch of coast to raise the next generation.