Family: Charadriidae, Plovers view all from this family

Description 8-9 1/2" (20-24 cm). A long-legged, sandy-brown plover. Breeding adult has black forecrown, white forehead, and thin black eye line. In winter adults and young birds, face plain, dark eye conspicuous. In all plumages, whitish wing stripe, whitish wing linings, black band near tail tip.

Habitat Arid plains, short-grass prairies, and fields.

Nesting 3 dark olive eggs, heavily spotted with brown, in a shallow depression on the ground, sometimes lined with bits of cow dung, twigs, or grass.

Range Breeds in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas Panhandle east to Nebraska. Winters from central California and southern Arizona southward into Mexico.

Voice A harsh single note, krrrp.

Discussion With its range centered on the short-grass prairie, a region subject to heavy grazing and cultivation, the Mountain Plover has been drastically reduced in number. It feeds singly or in small flocks, mostly on insects. In winter larger concentrations can be seen.