Reward of up to $5,000 offered after piping plover nests destroyed in Far Rockaway

Federal wildlife officials are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever destroyed a threatened piping plover nest in Far Rockaway last month.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the theft of two eggs and damage to two shorebird nest enclosures on the Far Rockaway beach. Officials said that sometime between 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 9, and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, June 10, a suspect or suspects broke into two fenced enclosures protecting the nests from other beach predators.

Piping plover nests are protected. The tiny shore birds are a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Anyone caught taking an egg or a single bird can face fines up to $25,000 and up to six months in prison.

Earlier this year, New York City officials installed cameras on the beach at Far Rockaway to monitor nesting activity and authorities are watching surveillance footage to try to identify any suspects. There were footprints in the sand leading to and from the nest.

The city has fenced off about one mile of shoreline on the seven miles of Rockaway Beach to allow piping plovers room to nest, incubate their eggs, and raise their chicks. Rockaway Beach has 17 known piping plovers, 11 eggs, five chicks and 10 fledglings at last count on July 6, officials said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service offered similar rewards last year after several piping plover nests were damaged on Long Island.

Nests were damaged last year at Jones Beach and Robert Moses State Park as well as in Southampton near Shinnecock East County Park. One nest was destroyed in an enclosure last year at Robert Moses and two nests were destroyed at Jones Beach. Unleashed dogs damaged the nest at Southampton and eggs were also taken, officials said at the time.

The egg of an American oystercatcher was also destroyed last year at the Gateway National Recreation Area near the Breezy Point Co-Operative in Rockaway Point.

"Federally and state-protected birds like the piping plover and the American oystercatcher make their nests directly in the sand, which makes them highly susceptible to extreme weather, as well as people and pets who get too close, and predators, who are often attracted to trash on the beach. They rely on us to give them space to nest and raise their chicks,” said Shelby Casas, coasts program manager for Audubon New York.

Audubon officials urge the public to give birds at least 50 feet of space. 

Hempstead Town has more than a dozen piping plovers nests, and more than 50 oystercatchers, primarily at Point Lookout and Lido Beach. The town monitors piping plovers seven days a week for 12 hours a day, town officials said, fences off nests in 10-foot enclosures and does not allow surfing or swimming near protected nests.

"These enclosures protect the plovers and their eggs from predators and are made so plovers can get in and out easily," Hempstead Supervisor Don Clavin said. 

Audubon New York, the state chapter of the National Audubon Society, last counted 463 pairs of piping plovers in New York State.

Officials said a plover can lay up to four eggs on average, but the current success rate of raising chicks in our state is just about one chick per pair.

Correction: The piping plovers' nest was destroyed between June 9 and 10. An earlier version of this story had incorrect dates.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.