There are two distinct subspecies of piping plovers. The melodus subspecies nests along the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to South Carolina. In Canada they breed along the coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and on the Magdalen Islands of Quebec. The circumcinctus subspecies nests on the shores of the Great Lakes, and throughout the Great Plains region. In Canada, they are found on the Lake Ontario shoreline and in the southern parts of the Prairie provinces. Wintering grounds for both groups range along the Atlantic coast from South Carolina to Florida and in the Caribbean. While piping plover populations are decreasing across their range, the Great Lakes region has experienced the most dramatic declines.