Mountain Plover

Charadrius montanus

Order CHARADRIIFORMES - Family CHARADRIIDAE - Subfamily Charadriinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Reproduction
8. Conservation Status
9. Other Names

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.

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.

Description

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

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.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Similar to nonbreeding adult.

Similar Species

• American Golden-Plover is more distinctly marked with spots on back, and lacks dark tail band and white stripe in wings.
• Killdeer has two dark bands on chest.

Sound

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

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from very southern Alberta and Saskatchewan southward to New Mexico and western Texas.

Winter Range

Winters in central valley of California, eastward along Mexican border to southern Texas.

Habitat

Breeds on open plains at moderate elevations. Winters in short-grass plains and fields, plowed fields, and sandy deserts.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Usually 3 eggs. Range: 1-4.

Condition at Hatching

Downy and active, able to leave nest as soon as down dries.

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)

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.