The Mountain Plover was first discovered by John Townsend in 1834. John James Audubon, a celebrated ornithologist was the first to name these beautiful birds. They were earlier called Rocky Mountain Plovers. These birds are endemic to North America, and they breed on the western Great Plains and they winter in dry grasslands and deserts in California and New Mexico.
About Mountain Plovers
Mountain Plovers are very relaxed birds that do not get disturbed very easily. If they are subjected to any disturbance, they just squat down and sit motionlessly. If they notice any observer, they just face away from them. As a result of this behavior, these birds can never be observed properly. Many have gone as far as calling them “prairie ghosts”. Sighting them is not an easy task.
Mountain Plovers reside in areas where herbivores are such as pronghorns, bison, and dogs. These birds also nest in prairies with short grass. Mountain Plovers require areas that aren’t very dense with vegetation and grasses, they prefer areas that have previously caught on fire. Recently, Mountain Plovers have also begun nesting on barren agricultural fields. Common overwintering locations for Mountain Plovers include Imperial, Central, and San Joaquin valleys in California. As these valleys were previously home to many native herbivorous animals, they have become perfect habitats for Mountain Plovers. Some of the herbivorous animals that previously resided in this valley include pronghorns, kangaroo rats, and Tule elks. These valleys have become suitable micro-habitats that share some similarities to the nesting grounds of Mountain Plovers.
Some scattered Mountain Plover flocks also winter in northern Mexico and south-central and western Texas. Throughout the entire geographical range of Mountain Plovers, they breed between late March and April. This time period is suitable for them because it occurs before the grasses begin to grow and become green.
Young Mountain Plovers leave their breeding grounds by mid-July and they reach their wintering grounds in small flocks by early November. Between this period, these birds spend their time wandering through southwestern plains and deserts. In comparison, spring migration is a much faster process.
In the 1970s, the population of Mountain Plovers started declining at a steady rate. There was a 3% drop each year until the early 1990s, a decision was made to mark these birds as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. By 2015, these birds have had an 81% decline, and are on the red watch list, but in 2003 they were removed from the list of endangered species by the U.S Fish and Wildlife service.
Mountain Plovers that reside in California spend 75% of their time in agricultural fields. These fields contain an abundance of pesticides, but Mountain Plovers have displayed no harmful effects to these poisonous substances.
In the southern portion of their breeding range, Mountain Plovers nest on tilled fields. Although some nests are failures due to tillage, the nesting success on tilled fields is approximately the same as it is in their native habitats. This is because tilled fields lack the nest predators that are abundant in their native habitats. Don’t these birds seem interesting? Let’s learn more about them.
● Mountain Plovers Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Mountain Plovers Size, Eating behavior, Habitat
● Mountain Plovers Range and Migration, Nesting
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Mountain Plover Color Pattern
Mountain Plovers are very plain-looking birds. They have sandy brown upperparts. This coloration extends from their neck to their chest. The sandy brown on their chest is a little faded in comparison to their upperparts.
Underparts such as the throat, forehead, and breast are white. Underwings are also bright white. A characteristic physical feature observed in Mountain Plovers is black loral stripes that extend from the bill to their eyes. As the bill is also black, the eyes and the bill can seem like one structure from afar.
Their non-breeding plumage is similar to the breeding plumage, but it is slightly lighter. The black plumage feathers on their lores, ear coverts, and crowns are replaced by browner plumage feathers. Upperparts have a presence of rufous fringes, and the patches on their breast are buffier instead of sandy brown.
Description and Identification
As Mountain Plovers have a pretty unique plumage, they are not often confused with other shorebirds. North American Plovers are one of the only bird species that Mountain Plovers are sometimes confused with. Another bird that shares many plumage similarities with Mountain Plovers is the Mongolian Plover. Mongolian Plovers are rare vagrants to North America. Although differentiating between these two species on the field is a challenging task, Mongolian Plovers are darker and have a larger bill. They are generally silent birds, so birdwatchers might have better luck sighting them.
Mountain Plover Song
Mountain Plovers utter a rolling whistle known as the “wee-wee” call. This call is repeated up to 5-15 times in succession. Wee-wee calls generally accompany the falling leaf display. It is also common during agonistic encounters. Although this call is primarily by males, females might produce this call after copulation.
During some aggressive encounters, Mountain Plovers pursuing other birds in the air give a kip call. They make this single note call when they are on their wintering grounds.
Another important call is the moo call, which males make. This call has a low amplitude, and you can generally hear it during nest scraping displays. Most of these short calls accompany displays. Another single note “chert” call is made during upright displays which are performed before copulation.
Mountain Plovers that are charging predators or observers make a chatter call. Other calls that might display their anxiety due to disturbances include the “ke-op” and “tu-lup” calls. They squeal while feigning an injury, and guttural calls to communicate with nestlings.
Mountain Plovers are generally more territorial and active when their nestlings are too young, or when their eggs are in the incubation phase. If predators approach their nests during this period, they might feign injury to distract potential predators from the nest, or they utter the “whirt” call, which is a signal for the chicks to become motionless. Adults
continue to make this call while flying away from the predator or intruder. Once, the situation has passed, adults discontinue the “whirt” call and produce a soft chirp to reassure the nestlings.
Mountain Plover nestlings make their first vocalization 3 days after hatching. If humans handle the nestlings, they emit a series of squawking chirps. These chirps display their anxiety and distress.
Flocks make the one-note “kip” call when in flight. They make this call during both the breeding and winter season. This kip call is uttered on two more occasions by wintering Mountain Plovers. They also use it while foraging on sunny days, and to signal other flying birds from the flock to join them on the ground.
Mountain Plovers that reside in Texas have some distinct vocalizations which have never been heard by Mountain Plover populations that reside in the rest of North America. These include a melodious whistle during feeding, and a harsher and louder rendition of the same whistle when they are alarmed.
Mountain Plover Size
Mountain Plovers are medium-size birds that are large in comparison to other Plovers. They are 8-9.5 inches long, their wingspan ranges between 17.5-19.5 inches. They approximately weigh 3.5 ounces.
Mountain Plover Behavior
Mountain Plovers are ground foragers that move around by performing short runs. Generally, if these birds are under attack near their nesting sites, they run away and find a place to forage. If their nestlings are too young, Mountain Plovers will feign injury to distract predators.
When Mountain Plovers are neither nesting nor raising a brood, their behavior in response to predators is more casual. Instead of running away, they just turn their back towards the intruder, and if it continues they may run or fly away.
Mountain Plovers are strong fliers, but they only fly very short distances. They might fly slightly longer distances when they are out of their nests. Disturbed flocks fly farther away than disturbed individuals. Migratory Mountain Plovers usually fly at lower elevations.
During winter, these birds roost in areas that they previously foraged in. For Mountain Plovers, roosting is an activity that occurs in the evenings, but sometimes they can flock together deeper into the night.
When engaging in territorial defense, Mountain Plovers engage in-ground and aerial chases. Mountain Plovers don’t always get physical during agonistic encounters, but they can sometimes pull some feathers out of the back of their opponent. Although both sexes of Mountain Plovers perform threat displays, they are more common and aggressive in males.
Mountain Plovers make horizontal threat displays when they are engaging in territorial displays with conspecifics. While performing this display, Mountain Plovers pull their tail their head in against their shoulders, spread their tail, ruffle their back feathers, and compress their feather feathers against their body. Their distinct “wee-wee” call generally accompanies threat displays.
Mountain Plover Diet
Mountain Plovers generally survive on insects such as ants, beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers. Occasionally they also feed on centipedes and scorpions. Animal matter makes up most of their diet, and they rarely consume plant matter such as seeds.
Like other Plovers, Mountain Plovers forage using the run-and-stop method. This means that they run forward for a few feet, scan their environment for potential food, and then repeat the process all over again.
When they see potential prey, Mountain Plovers dash towards it enthusiastically. This prey is then seized within the bill and consumed. If the ground is uneven, they search for prey in narrow openings in the landscape. If foraging in taller grass, they use their feet to disturb the grass, which can result in flushing out of potential prey like
grasshoppers.
Mountain Plover Habitat
Mountain Plovers choose shortgrass prairies as breeding sites. Prairies that have a lot of buffalo grass, blue grama, and western wheatgrass have a higher preference. Other than shortgrass prairies, Mountain Plovers also inhabit grassy semidesert which has sage, yucca, or prickly pears. In grassy habitats, Mountain Plovers can reside in elevations between 6,000-35,000 feet.
Mountain Plovers also nest in other habitats that are similar to their native habitats. These include barren agricultural fields and overgrazed landscapes. These birds also regularly nest near prairie dog towns.
During migration, Mountain Plovers can reside in any shortgrass habitat. These include tilled fields, playas, and sod farms. Wintering birds gather around in similar habitats to roost.
Range and Migration
Mountain Plovers breed in the high plains of North America. This range can extend from southeastern Alberta to New Mexico and Texas. One isolated breeding site occupied by Mountain Plovers also exists in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. Almost 85% of Mountain Plover populations are overwintered in the valleys of California. The rest of the population’s winter along the border of the U.S and Mexico. This range leans more towards the Mexican side.
Mountain Plover Lifecycle
Mountain Plovers arrive at their breeding grounds between late March and early April. Southern populations arrive earlier than northern populations. These birds arrive in flocks, beginning courtship and mating rituals within these flocks. Many Mountain Plovers have already formed pair bonds before arriving in the breeding sites. These birds only raise one brood per year.
Nesting
Males Mountain Plovers begin the process of nesting by immediately performing nest-scraping displays on arrival. Males continue the nest-scraping displays until they find a suitable nesting spot.
Anatomy of a Mountain Plover
Mountain Plovers are medium-size Plovers. Female Mountain Plovers are heavier than males. They have medium-sized bills, eyes, and tarsi. Their figure is lean.
Final Thoughts
Mountain Plovers are one of the only birds from the Plover family that does not live near water bodies. Instead, they prefer dry soil. The steady decline of their populations is alarming, and we don’t take action, it can have a permanent and detrimental effect on this species.
Ornithology
Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes
At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.
Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Mountain Plovers
The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Mountain Plovers are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.
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Birding Binoculars$49.99 - Kids Binoculars$13.99
Mountain Plover Stickers
Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Mountain Plover. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.
Bird Feeders For Mountain Plovers
There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.
Bird Houses For Mountain Plovers
There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.
