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Mountain Plover

Mountain Plover

Despite its name, the mountain plover is not associated with mountains.  In fact, this native Nebraska shorebird prefers flat, arid, short grass prairie, disturbed prairie or semi-desert habitats.  Unlike most shorebirds, it spends most of its life avoiding the shoreline.

Range:
The mountain plover (Charadriusmontanus) breeds from northern Montana to southern New Mexico.  It winters in California, Texas, and Mexico.

Description:
The mountain plover looks like a very pale version of a more common bird-- the killdeer.  But it lacks the black chest bands and has a white underbelly and neck. Its bill is black. In flight the black tail band fringed with white is a distinguishing characteristic.

Habitat:
Mountain plovers are selective in choosing their nest sites.  They prefer wide, arid flats with very shortgrass and plenty of bare ground. Often, they pick prairie dog towns for their nest sites. Prairie dogs towns contain patches of bare ground, very short grass, and attract many insects.

Mammals and reptiles are the primary predators that threaten plover nests and chicks.

Breeding strongholds for the mountain plover can be found in small areas of Montana and eastern Colorado.  Most of the birds winter in California in an area with high rates of human population growth.

In Nebraska, the mountain plover is considered a state threatened species.  As of mid-2009, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was considering listing the mountain plover as endangered or threatened throughout its range.

Life history:
Upon arrival in Nebraska -- usually late March to early April -- male plovers will reoccupy their former territories. As with many other shorebirds, the plover’s nest is just a shallow scrape in the ground lined with tiny pieces of vegetative material.
The female lays three dark olive eggs,  One of the adults tends the eggs throughout the 29-day incubation period.

After hatching, the precocial (highly independent) young are already able to run and catch their own food.  Adults will lead chicks away from the nest scrape to seek spots of shade under tall vegetation or in the shadow of a stock tank.