Manyat the shoreare aware of piping plovers, a federally endangered species, when they arrive in the spring on New Jersey beaches. Protective fencing goes up, and beachgoers are restricted from the birds’nesting areas all along our coast. These small, pale shorebirds blend in well with their sandy habitat, laying several eggs in a depression in the sand. Unfortunately, the eggs and chicks are very vulnerable to foxes, gulls, raccoons and other predators.