Chicago piping plover chicks named for Buddy Guy, Frankie Knuckles, Mavis Staples, Jeff Tweedy
Famous local musicians are the inspiration for the names of four new piping plover chicks living at Chicago's Montrose Beach Dunes.
The new chicks hatched this month. They have been named and banded, and their names were announced Monday — Buddy, Frankie, Mavis, and Tweedy. The sources for the names are blues legend Buddy Guy, house music pioneer Franki Knuckles, iconic R&B and gospel singer Mavis Staples, and alt rock and country legend Jeff Tweedy.
The plover named Buddy was given the "blue star" band combination, with an orange band with a blue star on the lower left leg. The plover's namesake George "Buddy" Guy moved to Chicago in 1957 from his native Louisiana, and released a new album for his 89th birthday last year.
Frankie has the "red star" band combination, with an orange band with a red star on the lower left leg. Its namesake, Frankie Knuckles, was known as the godfather of house music — his sets at all-night parties the Warehouse nightclub on the Near West Side drew thousands. Knuckles died in 2014.
Mavis got the "yellow star" band combination, with an orange band with a yellow star on the lower let leg. Mavis Staples was first known as a member of the legendary Staple Singers, and later as a solo artist — taking the message of Civil Rights and honoring it in her music.
Tweedy has the "green star" band combination, featuring an orange band with a green star on the lower left leg. Jeff Tweedy, a native of downstate Belleville, played with alt country band and later became the lead guitarist and founder of renowned indie band Wilco.
All the plovers also have a silver band on their upper left legs and a purple band on their lower right legs.
The chicks are the offspring of parents Sea Rocket and Imani.
Piping plovers have frequently nested at Montrose Beach since 2019.
Monty and Rose — named after the beach that is in turn named after the east-west street of which it serves at the mouth — were the first to nest at Montrose Beach in 71 years when they appeared in 2019.
Monty and Rose were Imani's parents. Sea Rocket was a captive-reared chick that was released in Chicago in 2023 along with two other plovers, Wild Indigo and Prickly Pear.
