The understated, elegant sandy plumage of the Mountain Plover blends perfectly with its pale shortgrass and desert surroundings—when alarmed, this bird often simply sits down and disappears. Nesting on high, dry plains of western North America, this species is a companion of classic prairie wildlife like bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs.

The mountain plover (Anarhynchus montanus) is a medium-sized ground bird in the plover family (Charadriidae). It is misnamed, as it lives on level land. Unlike most plovers, it is usually not found near bodies of water or even on wet soil; it prefers dry habitat with short grass (usually due to grazing) and bare ground.

The understated, elegant sandy plumage of the Mountain Plover blends perfectly with its pale shortgrass and desert surroundings—when alarmed, this bird often simply sits down and disappears. Nesting on high, dry plains of western North America, this species is a companion of classic prairie wildlife like bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs.

Poorly named, this pallid plover is a bird of flat open plains, not mountains. Of all of our 'shorebirds,' this is the one most disconnected from the shore, generally living miles from water in the dry country of the west.

The Mountain Plover is about the size of a Killdeer (Charadrius vocierus) but with longer legs and more erect posture. Sexes are similar in both size and plumage coloration, remaining drably colored most of the year and lacking black breast bands typical of many other plovers.

Despite its name, the sand-colored Mountain Plover is a species of open plains. It's roughly the size of a Killdeer, but is much more of a habitat specialist than its more familiar relative. And unlike the Snowy Plover, this "shorebird" lives far from water.

Medium-sized, plain buffy plover that favors flat open areas with little or no vegetation. Plain whitish underparts with no breast band. Look for black forehead and white eyebrow in breeding plumage. Nonbreeding birds have a plainer face. Also …

The understated, elegant sandy plumage of the Mountain Plover blends perfectly with its pale shortgrass and desert surroundings—when alarmed, this bird often simply sits down and disappears. Nesting on high, dry plains of western North America, this species is a companion of classic prairie wildlife like bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs.

The mountain plover (Charadrius montanus) is a medium-sized ground bird in the plover family (Charadriidae). It is misnamed, as it lives on level land. Unlike most plovers, it is usually not found near bodies of water or even on wet soil; it prefers dry habitat with short grass (usually due to grazing) and bare ground.

Mountain plovers are one of only 12 grassland birds endemic to the western Great Plains. They nest across the western Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states, from the Canadian border to northern Mexico, and winter in California, southern Arizona, Texas and Mexico.