Description of residence for Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) in Canada 2005

Section 33 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) prohibits damaging or destroying the residence of a listed threatened, endangered, or extirpated species. SARA defines residence as: “a dwelling-place, such as a den, nest or other similar area or place, that is occupied or habitually occupied by one or more individuals during all or part of their life cycles, including breeding, rearing, staging, wintering, feeding or hibernating” [s.2(1)]. With respect to a listed wildlife species that is an aquatic species or a species of bird protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994, the prohibition applies wherever residence of the species is found. For any other listed wildlife species, the prohibition applies automatically when the residence of the species is on federal lands and will only apply on non-federal lands if an order is made pursuant to sections 34 or 35 of SARA. Under section 97 of SARA every person who contravenes section 33 of the Act commits an offence.

The following description of residence for the Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) was created for the purposes of increasing public awareness and aiding enforcement of the above prohibition. Mountain Plovers are known to have one type of residence - the nest.

Any site used as a nest by a Mountain Plover is a residence.

Mountain Plovers breed in areas of short or intensively grazed vegetation, recently burned grasslands, bare ground and flat topography ^Footnote1, ^Footnote2, ^Footnote3, ^Footnote4. Of the few Mountain Plovers breeding in Canada, most nest in grazed or recently burned areas in native mixed grassland ^Footnote1. However, some nests are found in discontinuous areas of open grassland within grassland-scattered sagebrush, including two nests recorded at a Sage Grouse lek ^Footnote3, and there is one occurrence of nesting in a cultivated field ^Footnote1. In Saskatchewan, Mountain Plovers observations are often in or near Black-tailed Prairie-dog colonies, including one breeding record ^Footnote1. Prairie-dogs reduce both the height and cover of vegetation making sites more suitable for nesting by Mountain Plovers.

Nest sites are generally at least 30% bare ground and have vegetation less than 10 cm in height ^Footnote2. The nest is a scrape (bowl-shaped depression) in the ground, usually in loam, clay, or gravel soils ^Footnote2. After the clutch is laid, material such as lichen, leaves, cow manure, and Lagomorph (rabbit and hare) droppings are added until the eggs are about half buried ^Footnote2, ^Footnote5. Only three eggs are laid per nest. The male may incubate a first nest and the female may lay a second clutch which she incubates ^Footnote1. Eggs are dark olive buff, chamois, or rarely light pinkish cinnamon with irregular black markings ^Footnote2 (Fig. 2). The eggs are pear-shaped and approximately 38 x 28mm². The eggs take approximately one month to hatch, and the chicks leave the nest within days of hatching ^Footnote1. Nesting usually occurs from May to July.

The function of the nest residence is to provide protection, shelter, and the required conditions for egg laying, incubation, and hatching.

Any activity that damages or destroys the function of the nest would constitute damage or destruction of the residence. This would include, but not limited to, preventing access by the adult birds to the nest, taking, moving, or otherwise disturbing the eggs, destroying the nest, or changes to the microclimate of the nest (such as internal temperature).

The nest constitutes a residence from the time of construction until the precocial (mobile within hours of hatching) chicks hatch and leave the nest. This will typically occur between late-April and late-July each year.

For more information on the Mountain Plover, please visit the species' profile.

For more information on SARA, please visit the SAR Registry