The Mountain Plover

This curious little bird, one of very few endemic such species to North America, makes its nests on the ground, preferably in tall grass. Its habitat is actually a fairly large strip of land (not entirely unbroken, however) reaching from the southern region of Alberta in Canada all the way down in a slight southeasterly band throughout the Rocky Mountains into New Mexico and western Texas. Many of the endangered species on the world's lists tend to have extremely small habitats by comparison to the mountain plover, but this species' numbers are declining nonetheless. To begin with, the chances of survival of a mountain plover nest are never particularly good, sometimes being as low as a 25% survival rate. The nest being on the ground rather than in the relative safety of trees is a large contributor to this danger. But by far the biggest threat to the mountain plover is the encroachment of humans.
The prime locations for this bird is level ground, and unfortunately such flat areas are often the first areas to be developed; turned into croplands or are lost to urban expansion. As of 2009, the mountain plover moved from the Threatened list to the Endangered Species list.
The fate of the mountain plover seems irrevocably tied to that of prairie dogs. The favored nesting areas of these bids are typically prairie dog towns and when those disappear to development, as they have been in many parts of the western United States, so too go the plovers. Preservation efforts aimed at saving prairie dog habitats have the effect of also preserving nesting areas for the plovers.
The loss of the mountain plover would be grievous, as we'd be losing another of the only 12 remaining grassland birds native to North America. Efforts have been made to help protect the nests of the plovers, helping to raise survival rates of the chicks.

These organizations, while not having a direct mountain plover support link, do list the bird as one of the species it works to protect. Contributing to them is always a good investment. If you live in one of the states where the plovers make their habitat, you can look for local conservation organizations or look right out your back door and see if there are plovers nesting on your property, and try to leave them in peace and leave the tall grasses be!

www.worldwildlife.org

www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=species_birds_mountain_plover#.VX-Oi0Yd03g

Below is a link to a website where you can learn a lot about the mountain plover, and many other birds besides.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Plover/id