Los Angeles Audubon

Welcome to the Western Snowy Plover Conservation Page

If you’re a current participant on our monitoring program and are looking for survey materials, please click here on Snowy Plover Volunteer.

If you’re an agency looking for our most current survey data, please click here on Snowy Plover Agencies.

If you’re here to learn more about the Snowy Plover and Los Angeles Audubon’s role in its conservation, please read on!

Thanks to grants from Audubon California and California Department of Fish & Game, and in partnership with Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society, South Bay/Palos Verdes Audubon, and Ryan Ecological Consulting, and Plegadis LLC, volunteers have been surveying Los Angeles County beaches as part of the Snowy Plover Monitoring Program since 2007, gathering data on wintering plovers and those that might attempt to breed in the spring. Click below to access the resulting report:

The Western Snowy Plover in Los Angeles County (pdf format, 22MB)

Also available is our most recent report from 2010:

The Western Snowy Plover In Los Angeles County, California: January to August 2010 (pdf format)

If you’re interested in participating in our program as a volunteer for 2012, contact our Endangered Species Volunteer Coordinator, Stacey Vigallon, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or give her a call at (323) 481-4037.

Our next volunteer training will be Sunday, March 4th, 2012, 8-10 a.m. at Santa Monica Beach. We will meet in the parking lot of the Annenberg Community Beach House (just off Pacific Coast Highway, parking lot entrance is at Beach House Way). Feel free to contact the volunteer coordinator if you have any questions.

Also be sure to check out our gallery of Snowy Plover artwork by students from Weemes and Leo Politi Elementary Schools!

The learn more about the Western Snowy Plover in general, visit www.westernsnowyplover.org, a site that addresses plover issues all along the west coast.

In January 2012, we had 326 plovers in LA County. This is the highest count since 2006. The largest increases were at Malibu Lagoon (78 plovers) and Hermosa Beach (49 plovers), and roosts were also present at Zuma, Santa Monica, and Dockweiler Beach.

Snowy Plover Fall/Winter 2011 Update:

As of November, there were over 300 Snowy Plovers in Los Angeles County.Traditional roost sites at Zuma Beach, Malibu Lagoon, Santa Monica, Dockweiler, and Hermosa Beach were all occupied.

What's it like to help survey for Snowy Plovers in Los Angeles County?

Volunteering to help survey for Snowy Plovers is a great opportunity to spend some time outdoors. If you're lucky, you'll spot some Snowy Plovers. But even if your beach survey route is plover-less, chances are it will still be great wildlife-viewing. From Long Beach to Malibu, our beaches and lagoons are home to many wildlife species. The photos below are were taken during a January survey week....

Students get involved! 

Students from LA Valley College, Santa Monica College, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Dominguez Hills, LA Trade Tech, and the Youth Justice Coalition have participated in the Snowy Plover Monitoring Program.

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DORSEY HIGH CREATES AWARD-WINNING PLOVER FILM

Los Angeles Audubon teamed up with the Doresy High School Film Production Program to create a public service announcement about the Western Snowy Plover in Los Angeles County. The film can be viewed at our YouTube site (youtube.com/losangelesaudubon ). Be sure to check out the version in Spanish too. The film not only won the "Best Editing Award" at the Dorsey High Film Festival last June, but the students were also recognized by speaker Karen Bass of the California Assembly for their contribution to environmental awareness. Students Alma Alegria, Abelino Romo, and Chris Simmons and film teacher Robert Jeffers were present at the July 11th, 2008 Audubon Film Fridays event to screen their film and to receive their certificates on behalf of their class. Congratualtions Dorsey High! MANY thanks also go to all those who donated film footage, photos, illustrations, and expertise.

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ENCLOSURE AT MALIBU LAGOON!

On March 16th, 2008 volunteers worked with California State Parks to set up symbolic fencing at Malibu Lagoon. So many people showed up to help that the enclosure was set up in under two hours! Many thanks to all the volunteers who were able to make it out on a Sunday morning, and to Califorina State Parks who were great partners in getting the enclosure from the proposal phase to actual stakes in the ground.