The piping plover is a small shorebird with a short, stubby bill. Its upperparts are pale gray and its underparts white. It has a white collar and orange legs. It nests and feeds along coastal gravel and sand beaches in North America. Total popular is believe to be about 6,410 birds, with a little over half that population on the Atlantic Coast. Breeding habitat includes the Atlantic Coast, Great Lakes, and the Canadian and U.S. Midwest.  They mainly eat insects, crustaceans, and marine worms and forage for food along the high tide wrack zone.