LANSING (AP) – State wildlife officials report prospects are improving for two of Michigan’s endangered bird species.

Keith Kintigh, field operations manager for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said populations of Great Lakes piping plovers and Kirtland’s warblers have increased this year.

The plovers are migratory shorebirds with nesting grounds in Michigan. In 1983, the state had only 13 breeding pairs. This year, 58 nests were found in Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore had the most. They also nest on Lake Superior beaches near Grand Marais.

The Kirtland’s warbler nests mainly in young jack pine forests in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula. Only 167 singing males were found in 1987. A survey this year turned up 2,344 singing males in Michigan, including in the Upper Peninsula, and 21 in Wisconsin and Ontario. Scientists believe there’s a female for every singing male.

Two years ago, 2,025 males were recorded.