Animal Field Guide

Mountain Plover

Charadrius montanus
(Charadriidae)

Montana Species of Concern
Global Rank: G2
State Rank: S2B

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS: none
BLM: SENSITIVE

The upperparts of the Mountain Plover are generally uniformly brown. This color extends along the sides of the neck and onto the chest. The breast band present in many other plovers is absent in this species; the forehead, throat, and breast are white, while the underwings are bright white (Knopf 1996). The dorsal tip of the tail has a broad, black band, or patch, and the outer dorsal surface of the wings is also black (Knopf 1996, Sibley 2000). This plover is fairly large, 21.0 to 23.5 cm in length and weighing from 90 to 110 grams (Knopf 1996). During breeding, a distinctive black line, or loral stripe, is evident from the bill to the eye. Also at this time, the forecrown will be darkly mottled to black (Knopf 1996). An additional field mark identifying this species is a thin white line on the black-colored wing tip (thin white line in primaries) evident in flight (Knopf 1996). The bill of the Mountain Plover is black; the iris auburn; the legs are a dull, light brown-yellow; the feet are dark brown; and the claws are black (Knopf 1996).

The combination of a black forecrown and white breast is a unique color pattern among North American plover species that distinguishes the Mountain Plover (Knopf 1996). The Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), and a few other plovers, also have black forecrowns, but their breasts are decorated with a black breast band or black side patches (Sibley 2000). Their habitats are also distinctly different (see Habitat).

Mountain Plovers arrive in April and may remain in the state until September (Johngard 1986). The species is a rare migrant west of the Continental Divide, but is a breeding resident of the prairie lands to the east.

Habitat use in Montana appears similar to other areas within the breeding range; use of prairie dog colonies and other shortgrass prairie sites are confirmed as preferred breeding habitat. Records indicate the species utilizes towns of both white-tailed (Cynomys leucurus) and black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludoviscianus) (MBD 2003). These towns provide greater horizontal visibility, a higher percentage of bare ground, more burrows for refugia, and higher diversity of forbs than adjacent areas (Olsen 1985). Mountain Plovers will use towns as small as 3 ha (Knowles et al. 1982), but the average on one study was 57.5 ha (Knowles and Knowles 1984) and ranged from 6 to 50 ha in another (Olson-Edge and Edge 1987).

Primary habitat use in Montana during the breeding season includes heavily grazed, shortgrass prairie sites. Habitat in Phillips and Blaine counties, the area containing the largest known populations of Mountain Plover in the state, is dominated by the native plant species Bouteloua gracilis and Koeleria cristata. This area also contains Stipa comata, Agropyron smithii, Carex spp., Artemisia frigida, Opuntia polyacantha, and Gutierrezia sarothrae (FaunaWest 1991). Knowles (1993) determined in the northeastern portion of the state, Mountain Plover also selected sites associated with habitat dominated by Atriplex gardneri and Eriogonum multiceps, while use in the central and southwestern areas of the state was associated with Bouteloua gracilis and Stipa comata. Strong preference was also given to sites with slopes less than 5% and grass height of less than 6 cm (3 inches) (Knowles, Maj, and Hinckley 1995). Knowles (1993) indicates that sites selected within these habitat types were restricted to areas intensively grazed by prairie dogs, sheep, and/or cattle, especially those of the Stipa comata and Bouteloua gracilis habitat type (Knowles and Knowles 1997).

This opportunistic bird feeds primarily on insects (grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, flies, ants). It takes prey from the ground, and selects different food items at different locales (Knopf 1996).

Estimates of densities at Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR) were 16.2 breeding plovers per 100 ha in prairie dog towns (or 0.28 birds per sq km in the entire area) (Olson 1984). Town size was negatively correlated with plover density. At CMR, courtship, locomotion and maintenance activities decreased with increased temperature on a daily and seasonal basis (Olson 1984). The brood usually moves one to two km from the nest site in the first two to three days (Knopf and Rupert 1996). More than half of the clutches are lost to predators, mainly coyote (Canis latrans) and swift fox (Vulpes velox), and chicks also experience high rates of predation (Knopf 1996).

Records indicate that mountain plovers are less common today than in 1900 (Davis 1961), perhaps due to increased irrigated agriculture and/or prairie dog control (Johnsgard 1986, FaunaWest Wildlife Consultants 1991).

These birds are gregarious outside of the breeding season. They forage and roost in loose flocks of changing composition. Flock size may exceed 1000 on the southern Great Plains in late summer; site fidelity seemed poorly developed in winter range in southern California, but the winter survival rate was high (Knopf and Rupert 1995).

Mountain plover eggs are oval, smooth and slightly glossy. Drab, light olive to olive-buff, they are finely speckled, spotted, and decorated with scrawling lines of black and gray; average size is 37 X 28 mm (Baicich and Harrison 1997). Both sexes incubate three, sometimes two or four, eggs for 29 days, but not at the same nest. The female may lay a second clutch while the male incubates the first clutch (Graul 1975). This behavior may be more the rule than the exception (Knopf, pers. obs.). Nestlings are precocial, and fledge in about 33-34 days. Adults nest alone or in loosely associated groups. Excessive rain and storms may destroy nests and result in taller vegetation that precludes birds from renesting in the vicinity, as on the Pawnee National Grasslands in 1995 and 1997 (Knopf, unpub. data.).

Mountain Plovers are known to nest in a protracted manner; nesting in Montana may extend from late May to late July (Johnsgard 1986, Knowles 1993). Chicks have been observed as early as June 8, with the latest date of an incubating bird on July 18 (Knowles 1993). Observations by Knowles (1993) indicates that either all eggs are not successfully incubated or that chick mortality begins shortly after hatching, i.e. there is a steady decline in the number of chicks per brood with increasing age.

The average number of chicks per brood, at time of hatching, over a seven year time period was 1.82 (Knowles and Knowles 1997). In the northeast portion of Montana, Mountain Plovers generally used broad, gently-sloped valley bottoms for nesting; in the central and southwest, they used ridge tops and lower foothills extending from the footslopes of the mountain ranges (generally associated with the Stipa comata/Bouteloua gracilis habitat types); and in the northeast, they were associated with the dwarf shrub communities of Atriplex gardneri and Eriogonum multiceps (Knowles and Knowles 1997).

No management activities in Montana specific to Mountain Plover are regulated. However, the unifying habitat features desirable to Mountain Plovers are extremely short vegetation, a high percentage of bare soil, and an extensive area (0.5 to 1 km diameter) of nearly level terrain (Knowles and Knowles 1997). Management practices should emulate these parameters and may include practices to: 1) identify, map, and protect areas where Mountain Plovers currently nest; 2) identify, map and protect prairie dog towns located on level shortgrass prairie habitats to ensure these populations persist; 3) areas of potential Mountain Plover habitat should not be converted to agriculture nor have range improvements that increase forage for livestock (particularly planting exotic grasses); 4) combine light to moderate grazing with prescribed burning, which has the added benefit of reducing woody species (Wershler 1989); 5) restrict off-road vehicle use between April 1 and August 1 in areas identified as potential Mountain Plover habitat; 6) maintain areas of intensive grazing on level (less than 10% gradient) shortgrass prairie communities; 7) efforts should be made to reduce the likelihood of invasion by non-native species such as (but not restricted to) cheatgrass, leafy spurge, and knapweed. In both Montana and nationally, range and abundance have been reduced considerably in the last century; there is no evidence that this is stabilizing (FaunaWest Wildlife Consultants 1991, Knopf 1991). Knopf (1991) recommended upgrading federal status to C1. Population estimates for Montana range from 750-1000 (Knopf 1991) to 1487-2820 (FaunaWest Wildlife Consultants 1991). The species is ranked #1 in conservation effort needs for Montana (Carter and Barker n.d.), and is a Species of Management Concern in Region 6 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1995).