A certain pink bird may have taken all the press. But the story of a little piping plover spending its summer in Little Compton is perhaps even more amazing.

While bird lovers have flocked to Briggs Marsh to see the American Flamingo that first arrived here about three weeks ago, few have probably noticed tiny “3UN,” a plover that returned this Spring for its fifth season at Briggs Beach.

3UN, named for the ID band University of Virginia ornithologists put on its left leg  five years ago at the Cape Hatteras (North Carolina) National Seashore, is certainly well-traveled. Though scientists are not 100 percent sure where it goes when it’s not in Little Compton, Tim Mooney, of the Nature Conservancy, said they have an idea:

“Scientists have a general sense of the wintering range,” he said. “Since it’s a fairly conspicuous tag for it not to be noticed, it’s probably on a remote island in the Bahamas. That’s sort of the guess — it’s somewhere where people aren’t.”

3UN showed up some time this Spring, but when it will leave is unknown and depends on whether it and its mate are able to successfully fledge chicks.

To date, that has not seemed to be a problem, as Mooney said 3UN and its mate have fledged 12 chicks since 2020, and are rearing three more this summer.

Mooney said the story of 3UN is fascinating, and really shows the resiliency and determination of these tiny birds.

“These are little birds that face all kinds of challenges,” he said. “They’re prone to predation and they are navigating their way probably from the Bahamas to a specific beach in Little Compton. It’s amazing to see the kind of fidelity these birds have to specific sites.”