Threatened & Endangered Species Program

Plover WalkingEstablished in 1686, the Southampton Town Board of Trustees has long supported the need to protect the towns various natural resources.

Located on the eastern end of Long Island, Southampton is home to an extensive coastline of ocean and bay beaches. Within this sensitive coastal habitat resides three federally and state listed threatened and endangered species.

Program Information:

  • Informational Facts based on USFWS & NYSDEC Guidelines and Recommendations
  • Piping Plover’s typically lay their eggs anytime between May to early July.
  • There can be anywhere from 1-4 eggs in a nest.
  • There can be multiple nests in any given area with different hatch dates and therefore, different fledge dates.
  • From the date the last egg is laid in a nest, it takes an estimated 27 days for the birds to hatch.
  • Five days prior to the estimated hatch date, the beach must be closed to beach driving for 1,000 meters on each side of the nest.
  • Once the chicks hatch, they forage from the dunes to the shore for food. They wander the beach and might not always remain in the exact same location on a day to day basis but do typically stay in the same area. Studies show they have moved up to 1,000 meters from their nest location.
  • From the hatch date, it takes another 25-35 days on average for those chicks to fledge (fly).


Please Review The Frequently Asked Question Below:

  1. Are you following guidelines or are there rules and regulations?
  2. Why as of today is everything shut off when there are no nests? There were no nests anywhere when we were all down there?
  3. Why can’t you guys put snow fence down when they hatch and run it down the beach and we can continue to use each side to drive on?
  4. Is there a shuttle to bring people down to the beach from the parking lot?
  5. Why do some homeowners have a pathway through the middle of perimeter fencing?
  6. According to the guidelines you can do a 200-meter perimeter, if there is a monitoring organization and/or monitoring group. Why can’t monitoring groups monitor the birds so we can have a 200-linea
  7. How many nests are there on the beach? Ponquogue? Tiana Beach?
  8. Is it possible to move the nests?
  9. Can you give us information about how many birds are in the area, and if that number is drastically up from years past?
  10. Why don’t piping plovers nest on Village beaches such as Coopers Beach, in front of the Bathing Corp., or in front of the Water Mill Beach Club? Why are these beaches never closed down?
  11. Are you planning on giving us a refund or rebate for the stickers that have already been purchased? Or, have you considered alternate parking areas, i.e. the parking lot you own in the Village of
  12. Is there a way we can have a point of order or actually have a vote that has to do with the community that resides here?
  13. Can you show the community where these nests are? And how many there are? And show us a map?
  14. Why is the entire beach closed, when there are no nests?
  15. Can we protect these birds with a cage? Is that considered a take? That is what other communities are doing to protect them from predators.
  16. Is this the first time plovers have been in the picnic area?
  17. How will you alert the public on updates on beach driving closures?
View All

Endangered Species

These species include two bird species; the piping plover (Charadrius melodus) and least tern (Sterna antillarum), and the plant seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus). In addition, the town is also home to seabeach knotweed (Polygonum glaucum), a rare plant in New York State that is of special interest. Below are the annual reports for Southampton Town.

Annual Reports

Most Recent Report (PDF) | View All Annual Reports