First breeding record of a Mountain Plover in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.

Publication: Wilson Bulletin

Publication Date: 01-MAR-06

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The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is a species of North America's grasslands. It is classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Birdlife International 2004), endangered in Canada (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada 2004), and threatened in Mexico (Diario Oficial de la Federacion 2002). In the United States, the Mountain Plover was proposed for listing as a threatened species in 1999 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1999), but the proposal was withdrawn in 2003 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2003). The U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan rates the species as highly imperiled (Brown et al. 2001). Between 1966 and 1991, the entire population of Mountain Plovers declined by 63% (Knopf 1994); currently, the population is estimated at 11,00014,000 individuals (Plumb et al. 2005). The population decline has been attributed to loss of nesting habitat due to cultivation, urbanization, livestock management, and declines in native herbivores, mainly black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and North American bison (Bison bison; Wiersma 1996, BirdLife International 2004).

The Mountain Plover's primary breeding range includes eastern Colorado, central Wyoming, eastern Montana (Graul and Webster 1976), northeastern New Mexico, and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles (Knopf 1996). An isolated breeding population, which may be resident year-round, occurs in the Davis Mountains, Texas (Knopf 1996). In the United States, the plover's winter range extends from Sacramento, San Joaquin, and the Imperial Valley in California east to the Lower Colorado River Valley, and from Yuma east to Phoenix and the Chandler area in southern Arizona (Rosenberg et al. 1991, Knopf and Rupert 1995). In Mexico, the winter distribution has not been well studied, but it is believed to extend along the U.S./Mexico border south through Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas into Zacatecas and San Luis Potosf (Phillips et al. 1964, Wilbur 1987, Howell and Webb 1995, Gomez de Silva et al. 1996). More surveys are needed to document wintering as well as year-round resident populations.

Mountain Plovers nest in shortgrass and mixed grass prairies (Graul and Webster 1976, Knowles et al. 1982, Knopf and Miller 1994, Knopf and Rupert 1999b). They typically occur in areas characterized by short vegetation (<8 cm high; Graul 1975) and [greater than or equal to] 30% bare ground (Knopf and Miller 1994), and they are commonly associated with prairie dog colonies (Cynomys spp.; Knowles et al. 1982). Vegetation at...

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