Mountain Plover Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A small shorebird with a short, straight bill and a round head; elegantly proportioned with long legs and long wings.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Semipalmated Plover, smaller than a Killdeer.

  robin-sized

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm)
    • Weight: 3.2-3.9 oz (90-110 g)

  © Tom Johnson / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Mountain Plovers are tan above with a warm fawn-brown at the nape. They have blackish tails, a black bill, and pale legs. Breeding adults have black forecrown and lores (between eyes and bill). Juveniles are similar to nonbreeding adults but darker above, with scaly appearance on the upperparts created by pale feather edges.

• Behavior

  Forages in classic plover fashion, by racing forward several feet, pausing upright to scan for prey, then seizing insects from the ground. Usually forages alone, sometimes in pairs or small flocks.
• Habitat

  Nests in shortgrass prairies and in high, open, semidesert habitats (up to nearly 11,000 feet elevation) in western North America. Sometimes nests in fallow or tilled fields. Winters in similar agricultural habitats, prairies, and alkaline flats.