SEABROOK — This year is expected to be one of the better years for the piping plovers in New Hampshire. Five nests have been found on two state beaches, three on Seabrook Beach and two at Hampton Beach State Park.

Piping plovers are state-endangered and federally threatened migratory shorebirds. They are only 5 to 7 inches long, and are a sandy brown color when they are chicks with a white underside. When they are born, they are often described as a "cotton ball with legs."

According to Samantha Niziolek, who is with the N.H. Fish and Game Department at the Non Game and Endangered Wildlife Program, these are the only five confirmed pairs of piping plovers in the entire state. Four of the nests contain four eggs each, and one of the Hampton nests had only three. One egg in the latter nest had hatched as of yesterday. The others won't hatch because of what Niziolet believes was interference in their development.

In order to confirm a pair of the birds, Niziolek said they have to been seen together exhibiting breeding behavior. This would include the males making scrapes in the sand for the nests, and then the females choosing the nests and laying the eggs. Niziolek said that she wasn't able to confirm a fifth pair until the fifth nest was found because she had never seen the plovers together before.

Plovers have a hard time sharing their habitat with people because they are so small and blend in so well with the beach that people don't even notice they are there, Niziolek said. The birds face deadly challenges because people can step on them, dogs can eat them and children can pick them up.

"We try to protect these birds from people as much as possible," Niziolek said. "Humans are the main predator that are not a natural predator, and humans are the only thing we can control."

Don Felix, who volunteers monitoring the piping plovers on Seabrook Beach, was the first person to find the birds in New Hampshire back in 1997. Felix didn't know much about the piping plovers then and was surprised to find out that they hadn't nested in the state for 17 years. Over the years, Felix has learned much about the piping plovers and currently runs on Seabrook Beach every day to watch over the three nests there.

"They nest on the open beach with no protection," Felix said. "The habitat is totally different from birds that nest in trees."

Niziolek and Felix work together to protect the birds by setting up exclosures, which are placed around the nests. Niziolek described exclosures as fencing placed in a 6-inch radius around the nest, with nylon mesh material on top. This makes sure that birds are not able to fly in and eat the plovers.

"(The fencing) isn't easy to put up and put down," Niziolek said. "We try to do it in 15 minutes, because the birds will want to abandon the nests the longer we are there."

Felix and Niziolek both said that they have had issues with the fencing being broken down, and they are trying hard to educate more people about what is going on with the piping plovers. However, this year has the potential to be one of the better years for the piping plovers in the state because of the number of nests.

"The more successes you see, the more you want to make it better," Felix said. "When you see the chicks hatch, it's really special, and you'll know why I do what I do."

At the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, the plovers are also hatching. So far two of the seven nests have hatched, with three chicks in one and four chicks in the other.

The beach has been closed except for Lot 1 on Sandy Point, according to Sarah Janson, biological technician at the refuge. Janson said the piping plovers appear to be doing great, and they have fenced off a large area where they are nesting.

"People are curious," said Janson. "But no problems so far."

Janson said that the piping plovers have 51âÑ2 miles of beach on the refuge, and workers try to help the birds as much as possible.

"We feel that the birds are sensitive, so that's why we need a safe and quiet place for them to nest," Janson said. "We want to do the most we can for them on the refuge."

Janson said that they won't know how successful this year's piping plovers will be until the end of summer, but they expect the birds to migrate out of Plum Island at the end of August.