My colleagues and I monitor the federally endangered California Least Tern and the threatened Western Snowy Plover during the spring and early summer nesting season. The Least terns lay 2-3 eggs directly on the sand and the adults have to provide all the food for the chicks until they can fly in about 3 weeks. Following the breeding season, the terns migrate to Central and South America for the winter. Snowy plovers usually lay 3 eggs, but the adult birds provide only warmth and protection as the chicks are able to feed themselves. Snowy plovers are year-round residents, migrating usually only a few hundred miles along the coast. Our program monitors these populations by recording nests, eggs, locations and banding of chicks. The monitors walk through the nesting areas searching for the cryptically colored eggs, marking the nest for future reference. Chicks are banded shortly after they hatch and the metal bands will remain on the bird throughout its lifetime. Many of the nesting areas are found on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps property due to development along the coastline. These entities provide the project funding through the Zoological Society of San Diego, Center for the Reproduction of Endangered Species, Division of Applied Conservation.