From Opus

Charadrius montanus

Photo by Steve Messick
Location: Pawnee National Grasslands, Colorado, USA

Photo by Glen Tepke
Location: Salton Sea, California, USA

[edit] Identification

20–24 cm. Sandy brown upperparts, white underparts and face, black forecrown, black stripe from each eye to the bill (the stripe is brown and may be indistinct in winter); otherwise the plumage is plain.

[edit] Distribution

	Breeds in Great Plains of western Canada to southwestern U.S.; winters to northern Mexico.
	Legend • C. montanus; breeding • C. montanus; wintering Maps/Texts consulted1,2,3,4

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species.

[edit] Habitat

Dry short grass and bare ground.

[edit] Behaviour

Diet includes insects and other small arthropods.

It nests on bare ground and 3 off-white with blackish spots eggs are laid and are incubated for 28 to 31 days.

[edit] References

1. Sibley, David A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780679451228
2. Knopf, Fritz L. and M. B. Wunder. 2006. "Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus)." The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/211.
3. Brinkley, Edward S. 2007. Field Guide to Birds of North America. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 9781402738746
4. Howell, Steve N.G. and Sophie Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198540120

[edit] External Links