Mountain Plover

Mountain Plover, adult; Pawnee Grasslands, CO, July

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A native of the short-grass prairie, the Mountain Plover is a dull-colored shorebird of open, dry areas. Despite its name, it breeds in the high tablelands, not the mountains.

Description

Medium-sized to large shorebird. Legs moderately long. Neck short. Bill short. Head large and rounded. Back uniform sandy brown. Underside and face white. Underside of wings white. Thin white line shows on top of wing in flight. Tail brown with dark patch near tip. Breeding adult has black forehead and black line connecting eyes to bill.

• Size: 21-23 cm (8-9 in)
• Weight: 90-110 g (3.18-3.88 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Sound

Call a coarse, grating "kip." Display call a rolling, drawled whistle.

Conservation Status

Populations have been declining for many years. A proposal to list the species as "endangered" was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2003, stating that species was more common than was believed.

Other Names

Pluvier montagnard (French)
Tildío montañés, Chichicuilote montañés (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The Mountain Plover is one of the species that uses prairie dog towns to provide suitable breeding habitat in areas of longer grasses.

Sources used to construct this page:

Knopf, F. L. 1996. Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus). In The Birds of North America, No. 211 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists_ Union, Washington, D.C.