Parenthood in the Wild by Priyanka Arora

Description

This is a Snowy Plover with 2 of its 3 new born babies. With less than 31,000 left in the world, the Snowy Plover population is near threatened and rapidly declining. So coming across a Snowy Plover nest is a rarity in itself, let alone photographing such interactions. And unlike most other birds that are born helpless and stay in their nest for extended time requiring constant care and feeding, Snowy Plovers are ‘Precocial’ meaning they move around within just a few hours of hatching. Within a day the chicks are running around and parents lead them to a safer area. So to photograph this interaction between a new born chick and its mother I had a very small window of opportunity and I had to be at the right place at exactly the right time. After finding this nest I visited every morning and evening for 2 weeks until one evening I saw 2 hatchlings and one egg. The sun had set so I knew I would have to come back in the morning for any decent shots, praying they would still be there. As luck would have it, the third chick was a little slow and had hatched later in the night so the family was still at the nest in the morning. I got to spend an amazing hour with this mother and her 3 babies capturing their interactions, first steps, first words, first falls and first meals. Laying low on the ground, fully camouflaged and keeping a low profile allowed me to observe and capture many intimate shots without disturbing them.
These birds go through enough struggle to survive as is. To that add 3 newborn babies and you can see what it is to be a parent in the wild.

Species

Snowy Plover