The Chicago Bird Alliance is holding a naming contest for four new piping plover chicks.
Imani and Sea Rocket, the new parents, saw their four eggs hatch last week as bird experts and enthusiasts made their way to the beach to catch a glimpse of the newborns.
The first-time parents are doing well, according to Tamima Itani, the lead volunteer coordinator for Chicago Piping Plovers.
Imani was hatched at Montrose Beach in 2021, an offspring of piping plovers Monty and Rose. Sea Rocket, a captive-reared chick, was released at Montrose Beach in July 2023. Since then, the pair has been inseparable.
“They knew each other last summer,” Itani said. “When Sea Rocket came back this year, it felt like she went immediately to Imani.”
Imani and Sea Rocket’s brood hatched roughly a month after the first egg was found in a protected area of Montrose Beach. The new chicks were soon found either with their parents or taking their first steps as they learned how to walk.
Piping plovers disappeared from Illinois beaches around 1955, and the first chicks since then hatched in 2019 at Montrose Beach.
The bird species is considered endangered in the Great Lakes region. According to Great Lakes Piping Plovers, much of their decline was due to nest disturbance, predation, and habitat deterioration.
Montrose Beach functions as a haven for piping plovers and protects their nests from predators and other dangers and allows the parents to move in and out freely, Chicago Piping Plovers officials say.
The beach became a protected sanctuary in 2019 after Monty and Rose’s successful breeding marked the first time in five decades that piping plovers had hatched in Chicago.
The naming contest is joint effort of the Chicago Bird Alliance, the Chicago Ornithological Society, the Illinois Ornithological Society and Chicago Piping Plovers, a volunteer group dedicated to protecting the birds.
After the names are selected, the chicks will be banded so they can be identified.
Those interested can submit one to four names via the organization’s form, and all suggestions have to include an explanation to follow.
The organizers are calling for names to reflect “Chicago’s heritage, culture and diversity.” These suggestions can not include names in reference to elected officials or public figures, organizers say.
The naming process will be open until the end of the day Thursday. To submit names, fill out the form here.