Mountain Plover
Charadrius montanus

Conservation status | Has disappeared from much of former breeding range as former short-grass prairie is converted to farmland. In some areas, decline may be linked to decline in prairie-dogs (whose colonies formerly furnished good nesting habitat). |
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Family | Plovers |
Habitat | Semi-arid plains, grasslands, plateaus. Favors areas of very short grass, even bare soil. Typically far from water. Nests mostly in short-grass prairie, including overgrazed pasture and very arid plains. In some areas, nests mainly on the rather barren open ground found in large prairie-dog towns. Winter habitats include desert flats, plowed fields. |
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Feeding Behavior
Typically they run a few steps and then pause, then run again, pecking at the ground whenever they spot something edible.
Eggs
3, sometimes 2, rarely 1-4. Olive-buff with many black marks. Incubation is by one or both sexes, 28-31 days. On very hot days, adult will stand over eggs, shading them from intense sun. Young: Downy young leave nest soon after hatching; are tended by one or both parents, but feed themselves. Adults shade young on hot days, and family may seek out any available shade at mid-day. Young can fly well at about 33-34 days.
Young
Downy young leave nest soon after hatching; are tended by one or both parents, but feed themselves. Adults shade young on hot days, and family may seek out any available shade at mid-day. Young can fly well at about 33-34 days.
Diet
Mostly insects. Diet is not well known; but in the dry upland habitats where this plover lives, it probably feeds almost entirely on insects, including grasshoppers, beetles, flies, and crickets.
Nesting
In breeding season, male may display by flying high over territory with exaggerated slow wingbeats, calling. Female may lay one clutch of eggs and leave male to care for eggs and young, then lay another clutch and incubate it herself. Nest site is on flat open ground (flat sites chosen even in hilly country). On featureless plain, nest is often placed close to some conspicuous object, such as a pile of cow manure. Nest is shallow scrape in soil. Nest lining (including pebbles, grass, rootlets, chips of cow manure) added mostly during incubation. Several nest scrapes are made, only one is used.
Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
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Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
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Migration
Most apparently migrate southwest from breeding grounds; some go straight south to Texas, northern Mexico. Very rarely strays to eastern United States, mostly in fall and winter.

- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
See a fully interactive migration map for this species on the Bird Migration Explorer.
Learn moreSongs and Calls
A harsh single note, krrrp.Learn more about this sound collection.