The Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus, has declined significantly in population and is considered near-threatened, with a total population of perhaps 15-20,000. The decline is attributed mostly to habitat loss, both in breeding grounds (short-grass plains east of the Rockies) and wintering areas, where agricultural practices have reduced foraging grounds. They prefer barer ground, i.e. grazed, plowed or burned fields. Unlike most plovers the Mountain Plover is not found near water and prefers arid substrates where it hunts for beetles, grasshoppers and crickets. Up to 85% of all the Mountain Plovers will winter in the Central, San Juaquin and Imperial Valleys of California, with most in the Imperial Valley. Others winter in southern New Mexico and Northern Mexico, with some in southwest Texas.
Their nesting behavior is interesting. The female lays about 3 eggs in one nest, then leaves that clutch for the male to incubate and watch over until chicks fledge. Meanwhile she goes to a second nest and lays another 3 eggs, which she incubates and tends herself, apparently with better average success than the male. The chicks are precocial, i.e. they find their own food.
As you can see from the photos, Mountain Plover is long-legged and rather plain, with soft brown back and wings, and white face, neck and underparts. About Killdeer size but with a shorter tail. They blend in with the colors of the plowed fields, so can be hard to spot. In breeding plumage the forecrown gets black, as in many other plover species, and black develops in the lores.
The BNA account (#211) by F. Knobf is good, but a more accessible account can be found in Wikipedia:
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