Family: Plovers (Charadriidae)
Genus & Species : Charadrius montanus
Status: Uncommon winter visitor to the Imperial Valley in Imperial County, California. Uncommon to rare in southwestern, central, and southeastern Arizona
Habitat: Grassy fields and plains; often seen in agricultural areas with gopher infestations
Seen recently at: ag fields south of Yuma, AZ
Best Chances: Mountain Plover are usually easiest to find and in the largest numbers in the Imperial Valley. Numbers vary, but we've seen fields with several hundred annually. Look for them in the following types of fields, listed in general order of preference:
- Recently burned Bermuda grass
- Recently burned asparagus
- Short Bermuda grass
- Recently plowed flat fields with no furrows

In southwest Arizona, smaller numbers of these plovers visit the huge crop circle south of Co 19th Str (south of Yuma). In central Arizona, south of Casa Grande and Eloy, look over the grassy field of the Western Sod Farm off of Tweedy and Pretzer Rds.