{"id":8187,"date":"2013-04-23T03:45:06","date_gmt":"2013-04-23T09:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8187"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T18:04:14","slug":"mountain-plovers-comparing-two-similar-looking-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/23\/mountain-plovers-comparing-two-similar-looking-species\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Plovers – Comparing Two Similar Looking Species"},"content":{"rendered":"

I must admit that when I first saw the Mountain Plovers I reported on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> I knew exactly what I was looking at because I had dreamed of seeing Mountain Plovers and had studied their appearance in every guidebook and app that I own.<\/p>\n

\"KilldeerKilldeer calling at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I was looking at a tiny bird that was about a football field and a half away in distance and the light on the bird was bad, I knew I was seeing a bird I had longed to see.<\/p>\n

But there are a few similar species that occur in Utah and surrounding states that could be confused with Mountain Plovers. Killdeer look similar but there are some key ID features that help with identification.<\/p>\n

Killdeer have very dark breast bands, a red\u00a0orbital ring around very dark eyes, a black collar that encircles the neck, a dark cheek patch (auriculars), brownish upper parts, white belly\u00a0and a brownish crown.<\/p>\n

\"MountainMountain Plover in spring grasses<\/span><\/p>\n

Mountain Plovers lack the double breast bands, the red orbital ring around the eyes. They have light colored auriculars, sandy brown upper parts, a black line that runs from the bill to the eyes in breeding plumage, black crown with a white forehead and a pale belly. Mountain Plovers also lack the double breast band that is unique to Killdeer.<\/p>\n

Both birds do have thin, black bills.<\/p>\n

\"Black-belliedBlack-bellied Plover at Fort De Soto<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0It would be easy to see the differences between a Mountain Plover and a Black-bellied Plover in breeding plumage<\/a><\/span> but at\u00a0long distances Black-bellied Plovers in nonbreeding plumage could possibly be mistaken for Mountain Plovers. Black-bellied Plovers are larger but at a distance that would be hard to see.<\/p>\n

Black-bellied Plovers have a thicker, longer bill than Mountain Plovers do. They have checkered upper parts, darker legs and their chest can have streaks on it. Their bodies also appear more rounded than Mountain Plovers.<\/p>\n

\"MountainMountain Plover delight<\/span><\/p>\n

It always helps to have high quality images to use in making ID’s but there are times that is not possible and at that point any photo is better than none.<\/p>\n

It would also help to make notes on the size, shape, color, behavior and other ID keys such as size of the bill, plumage patterns, leg length and color and more.<\/p>\n

Recently on the ABA Rare Bird Alert Facebook<\/a><\/span> page there was a possible Mountain Plover reported in Jasper County, South Carolina that had an interesting discussion on the reported sighting where the ID has been decided that it was an American Golden Plover.<\/p>\n

The sighting was posted on April 16th but photographed the same day as the pair I found, identified, pointed out, and photographed on Antelope Island, Utah. I found the discussion interesting.<\/p>\n

Bird identification can be fun and very challenging, sometimes more challenging than not. With these Mountain Plovers comparing two similar looking species ahead of time can make identification in the field easier.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mountain Plover photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a few similar species that occur in Utah and surrounding states that could be confused with Mountain Plovers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,87,1022,697,25,704,267,2188,2000,7646,26],"tags":[2190,215,4367,4144,5040,5041,5013,270,2189,5841,275,4162,1902,2191],"class_list":["post-8187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-bellied-plovers","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-killdeer","category-mountain-plovers","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-rarities","category-utah","tag-anarhynchus-montanus","tag-bird-id","tag-black-bellied-plover","tag-charadrius-vociferus","tag-comparing-species","tag-id-features","tag-identification","tag-killdeer","tag-mountain-plover","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-pluvialis-squatarola","tag-rare","tag-rarity"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-adult-mia-mcpherson-5901.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-283","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68022,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/07\/my-rare-mountain-plover-sighting-happened-almost-seven-years-ago\/","url_meta":{"origin":8187,"position":0},"title":"My Rare Mountain Plover Sighting Happened Almost Seven Years Ago","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My rare Mountain Plover sighting happened almost seven years ago on Antelope Island State Park when I spotted, identified and photographed of the plovers during spring migration.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting female Mountain Plover, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/16\/shorebirds-of-fort-desoto-the-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":8187,"position":1},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – The Plovers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Throughout the year you can see and photograph many different species of Plovers on Fort De Soto\u2019s beaches, tidal lagoons and spartina marshes.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-bellied Plovers"","block_context":{"text":"Black-bellied Plovers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/black-bellied-plovers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Semipalmated Plover in early morning light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Mountain Plover in a field on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-5959.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-5959.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-5959.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-5959.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8832,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/08\/ghosts-of-the-prairie-mountain-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":8187,"position":3},"title":"Ghosts of the Prairie – Mountain Plovers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"On April 10th I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park after reporting it to the UBIRD birding list many birders and bird photographers sped to the island to see these birds which are a rarity in this area.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Plover male in the grass, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8072,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/10\/mountain-plovers-a-dream-come-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":8187,"position":4},"title":"Mountain Plovers – A Dream Come True","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"What I saw through my lens was a Mountain Plover, a bird I have long dreamed of seeing. A rarity here in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert Mountain Plover male, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11528,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/03\/mountain-plover-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":8187,"position":5},"title":"Mountain Plover on Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Eight months ago I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park and I am still blown away by seeing and photographing those beautiful shorebirds who are uncommon in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Handsome shorebird, the Mountain Plover, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-spring-utah-mia-mcpherson-6058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-spring-utah-mia-mcpherson-6058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-spring-utah-mia-mcpherson-6058.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-spring-utah-mia-mcpherson-6058.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8187"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":173859,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8187\/revisions\/173859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}