The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is a declining migratory shorebird that nests on shortgrass prairies across the western Great Plains. This ground-nesting species exhibits an uncommon split-clutch mating system, in which each member of a pair simultaneously incubates a nest and uniparental care continues throughout brood-rearing. We report on an observation of within-season nest reuse in this species. To our knowledge, this report includes the first documented occurrence of 2 different Mountain Plovers using the same nest cup in the same breeding season. Nest reuse could represent a time- and energy-saving strategy for renesting individuals

Dreitz, Victoria J.

Stinson, Lani T.

English

University of Montana

University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications Wildlife Biology 2014 Within-Season Nest Reuse by Mountain Plovers (Charadrius Montanus) in Eastern Colorado Lani T. Stinson Colorado Parks and Wildlife Victoria J. Dreitz University of Montana - Missoula, victoria.dreitz@cfc.umt.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/wildbio_pubs  Part of the Poultry or Avian Science Commons, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Recommended Citation Stinson, Lani T. and Dreitz, Victoria J., "Within-Season Nest Reuse by Mountain Plovers (Charadrius Montanus) in Eastern Colorado" (2014). Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications. 83. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/wildbio_pubs/83 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Wildlife Biology at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wildlife Biology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact scholarworks@mso.umt.edu. The Mountain Plover (Charadrius mon-tanus) is a migratory upland shorebird thathas experienced population declines through-out its range over the last 4 decades (Knopfand Wunder 2006). This medium-sized (~100g), drab-colored shorebird breeds primarily inshortgrass prairie habitats throughout the west -ern Great Plains states, with more than 50%of the North American population breedingin the prairies of eastern Colorado (Kuenningand Kingery 1998, Knopf and Wunder 2006).Mountain Plover nesting habitat is generallycharacterized by flat areas with sparse vegeta-tion and bare ground, including grazed nativegrasslands and agricultural lands (Graul 1975,Olson and Edge 1985, Knopf and Miller 1994,Dreitz and Knopf 2007).The Mountain Plover arrives on its breed-ing grounds in eastern Colorado in earlyMarch and stays until late July or early Au -gust (Knopf and Wunder 2006). Shortly afterarrival, males begin establishing territoriesand displaying for breeding females at multi-ple nest-scrape locations. Egg-laying typicallybegins by mid- to late April and extends intomid-June (Graul 1975, Knopf and Wunder2006). The Mountain Plover exhibits a uniquemating system in which the female lays two3-egg clutches in rapid succession; the firstclutch is laid in a nest to be incubated by themale, and the second is tended solely by the fe -male (Graul 1973, 1976). Incubation periodsnormally range from 28 to 31 days, with uni-parental care continuing during brood-rearingand chicks fledging 30–36 days post-hatch(Graul 1975, Miller and Knopf 1993). In east-ern Colorado, the length of the nesting seasonis highly variable and weather dependent, butnesting generally lasts into late July, with eggsobserved hatching as late as 21 July in someyears (V.J. Dreitz unpublished data). If the eggsor chicks from the initial nesting attempt arelost early in the breeding season, it is possiblefor a plover to successfully hatch chicks froma replacement nest (Graul 1975, Knopf andWunder 2006, Skrade and Dinsmore 2010).We monitored Mountain Plover nests andchicks from April through July on private landscovering approximately 2100 km2 in LincolnCounty, Colorado. After 11 years of researchon Mountain Plover reproductive biology ineastern Colorado (i.e., 2001–2012), we haveobserved a unique renesting event in a nestcup previously used by another plover. Toour knowledge, this is the first documentedoccurrence of use of the same nest cup by 2Western North American Naturalist 74(1), © 2014, pp. 130–132WITHIN-SEASON NEST REUSE BY MOUNTAIN PLOVERS (CHARADRIUS MONTANUS) IN EASTERN COLORADOLani T. Stinson1 and Victoria J. Dreitz1,2ABSTRACT.—The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is a declining migratory shorebird that nests on shortgrassprairies across the western Great Plains. This ground-nesting species exhibits an uncommon split-clutch mating system,in which each member of a pair simultaneously incubates a nest and uniparental care continues throughout brood-rear-ing. We report on an observation of within-season nest reuse in this species. To our knowledge, this report includes thefirst documented occurrence of 2 different Mountain Plovers using the same nest cup in the same breeding season. Nestreuse could represent a time- and energy-saving strategy for renesting individuals.RESUMEN.—El chorlo llanero (Charadrius montanus) es una ave playera migratoria en las praderas de pastos cortosen las Grandes Llanuras occidentales. Esta especie anida en el suelo, y presenta un sistema de división de puesta pococomún, en la que cada individuo de un par incuba un nido al mismo tiempo y este cuidado uniparental continúa durantetodo el periodo de atender las crías. Aquí reportamos una observación del comportamiento de la reutilización de nidosdentro del mismo año para esta especie. Según nuestro leal saber y entender, esta es la primera ocurrencia documentadade dos chorlos llaneros diferentes que utilizan el mismo nido en la misma temporada de crianza. Reutilización de losnidos puede representar una estrategia para ahorrar tiempo y energía para esta especie.1Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 317 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526.2Corresponding author. Present address: University of Montana, Wildlife Biology Program and Avian Science Center, College of Forestry and Conserva-tion, Missoula, MT 59812. E-mail: victoria.dreitz@cfc.umt.edu130different Mountain Plovers in the same breed-ing season.On 21 April 2011, we located a MountainPlover nest in the laying stage on grasslandoccupied by black-tailed prairie dogs (Cyno-mys ludovicianus). Using egg flotation (West-erskov 1950), we monitored stage of incuba-tion until hatching. We also placed a smallweather data logger (Thermochron iButton,Embedded Data Systems, Lawrenceburg, KY)at the bottom of the nest, following field pro-tocols similar to Hartman and Oring (2006).We later captured, banded (Band #1232-11228,hereafter Plover #28), and attached a radio-transmitter to the tending adult. We continuedmonitoring the nest until 21 May, when 2chicks hatched (the third egg had disappearedmidway through incubation). As part of a long-term study, we located the 2 chicks every 24–48 h and determined their survival status; nei-ther chick survived to fledge (chicks died be -fore reaching 30 days old).Approximately 17 days later, on 7 June, 3eggs were found in the exact location (basedon location coordinates) as Plover #28’s nest;however, the nest was being incubated by adifferent adult (Band #1232-11146, hereafterPlover #46). A nail that had been used toanchor the iButton to the bottom of Plover#28’s nest (Hartman and Oring 2006) was stillpresent in the nest when it was found occu-pied by Plover #46, providing further evidenceof the nest reuse. Not only were the eggs ofPlover #46 in a previously used cup, but theyalso constituted a “replacement” nest, initi -ated less than 18 days after the loss of Plover#46’s first clutch. We should note, however,that without knowing the sex of the 2 individu -als, we are unable to rule out the possibilitythat Plover #46 was mated to Plover #28.Plover #46 had begun incubating its firstclutch early in the breeding season in similarhabitat (prairie dog colony) approximately 430m from the site of the replacement nest. Welocated Plover #46’s first nest on 21 April andcontinued monitoring it until 19 May, whenone chick hatched. The following day, we lo -cated the chick dead in a burrow 48 m fromthe nest. When found on 7 June, Plover #46’ssecond nest (i.e., replacement nest) was atearly-incubation stage, with approximately2.5– 3 weeks left until hatching. On 21 June,Plover #46’s second nest was deemed faileddue to abandonment, based on eggs found cold,dirty, not progressing in incubation stage, anddisplaced from the nest cup. When we dis-sected the eggs from the failed nest, we foundno evidence of embryonic development, in -dicating that either the eggs were infertile orthe nest was abandoned prior to the onset ofincubation. Many species of shorebirds lay replacementclutches following the loss of their nest orbrood from predation or other causes. Thesespecies include members of the family Chara -driidae, such as the Kentish Plover (Charadriusalexandrinus; Amat et al. 1999a), Semipal -mated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus; Flynnet al. 1999), and Malaysian Plover (Charadriusperonii; Yasué and Dearden 2008). Renest -ing attempts have also been reported for theMountain Plover from studies conducted inother parts of its breeding grounds, specifi-cally in Weld County, Colorado (Graul 1975,Knopf and Rupert 1996, Knopf and Wunder2006), and Phillips County, Montana (Skradeand Dinsmore 2010). Few studies have re -ported on the timing or relative locations ofinitial and replacement nest sites within asingle breeding season, but Skrade and Dins-more (2010) found that 60%–70% of MountainPlover renesting attempts over a 14-year pe -riod (n = 48) occurred on the same prairiedog colony as the initial nest.Due to the Mountain Plover’s unique mat-ing system and ability to renest following nestfailures, each plover pair has the potentialfor up to 4 nest attempts in a single breedingseason, thus spreading out risk and increas -ing the possibility of nest success (Knopf andWunder 2006). Though renesting is a viableoption for some plovers that lose their eggsor broods early in the season, it may not befeasible for all individuals due to timing orenergetic constraints. There is an energeticcost to reproduction; thus, renesting birds mayhave fewer resources to allocate to predatordefense/avoidance, foraging, and maintenanceof health and body condition prior to migra-tion (Schmidt and Whelan 2010). In additionto the energy required to lay and incubateeggs, there are energetic costs associated withnest site selection and construction. Thoughnest-building costs are admittedly much lowerfor open-nesting shorebirds as compared tospecies that construct or excavate more elabo-rate nests, the use of a preconstructed nestcup may still have represented some time or2014] NOTES 131132 WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN NATURALIST [Volume 74energy savings for Plover #46, as suggestedfor several other species (Amat et al. 1999b,Cavitt et al. 1999, Horn et al. 2007, Richmondet al. 2007). Though we can only speculateabout the potential fitness benefits of nestingin a preconstructed, pre-used nest cup, thedocumentation of this behavior in the Moun-tain Plover is an interesting finding in thecontext of this declining species’ potential re -productive strategies.We thank the landowners throughout Lin-coln County who allowed us access to theirlands. We thank C.J. Archuleta, E.L. Birt -wistle, A.H. Harrington, K.A. Kovach, W.L.Lutz, L.N. Messinger, M.M. Riordan, and N.A.Schwertner for field assistance. Financial andlogistical support was provided by ColoradoParks and Wildlife.LITERATURE CITEDAMAT, J.A., R.M. FRAGA, AND G.M. ARROYO. 1999a. Re -placement clutches by Kentish Plovers. Condor 101:746–751.______. 1999b. Reuse of nesting scrapes by KentishPlovers. Condor 101:157–159.CAVITT, J.F., A.T. PEARSE, AND T.A. MILLER. 1999. BrownThrasher nest reuse: a time saving resource, protec-tion from search-strategy predators, or cues for nest-site selection? Condor 101:859–862.DREITZ, V.J., AND F.L. KNOPF. 2007. Mountain Plovers andthe politics of research on private lands. BioScience57:681–687.FLYNN, L., E. NOL, AND Y. ZHARIKOV. 1999. Philopatry,nest-site tenacity, and mate fidelity of SemipalmatedPlovers. Journal of Avian Biology 30:47–55.GRAUL, W.D. 1973. Adaptive aspects of the MountainPlover social system. Living Bird 12:69–94.______. 1975. Breeding biology of the Mountain Plover.Wilson Bulletin 87:6–31.______. 1976. Food fluctuations and multiple clutches ofthe Mountain Plover. Auk 93:166–167.HARTMAN, C.A., AND L.W. ORING. 2006. An inexpensivemethod for remotely monitoring nest activity. Jour-nal of Field Ornithology 77:418–424.HORN, J.A., M.P. WARD, M.G. ALESSI, T.A. DANNER, ANDR.J. NOVAK. 2007. Observation of a Northern Cardi-nal nest reused by a Gray Catbird in the same sea-son. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 119:761–762.KNOPF, F.L., AND B.J. MILLER. 1994. Charadrius mon-tanus: montane, grassland, or bare-ground plover?Auk 111:504–506.KNOPF, F.L., AND J.R. RUPERT. 1996. Reproduction andmovements of Mountain Plovers breeding in Colo -rado. Wilson Bulletin 108:28–35.KNOPF, F.L., AND M.B. WUNDER. 2006. Mountain Plover(Charadrius montanus). The birds of North America.Number 211.KUENNING, R.R., AND H.E. KINGERY. 1998. MountainPlover. Pages 170–171 in H.E. Kingery, editor,Colo rado breeding bird atlas. Colorado Bird AtlasPartnership and Colorado Division of Wildlife, Den-ver, CO.MILLER, B.J., AND F.L. KNOPF. 1993. Growth and survivalof Mountain Plovers. Journal of Field Ornithology64:500–506.OLSON, S.L., AND D. EDGE. 1985. Nest site selection byMountain Plovers in northcentral Montana. Journalof Range Management 38:280–282.RICHMOND, S., E. NOL, M. CAMPBELL, AND D. BURKE.2007. Conspecific and interspecific nest reuse byWood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). NortheasternNaturalist 14:629–636.SCHMIDT, K.A., AND C.J. WHELAN. 2010. Nesting in anuncertain world: information and sampling the fu -ture. Oikos 119:245–253.SKRADE, P.D.B., AND S.J. DINSMORE. 2010. Sex-relateddispersal in the Mountain Plover (Charadrius mon-tanus). Auk 127:671–677.WESTERSKOV, K. 1950. Methods for determining the ageof game bird eggs. Journal of Wildlife Management14:56–67.YASUÉ, M., AND P. DEARDEN. 2008. Replacement nestingand double-brooding in Charadrius peronii: effectsof season and food availability. Ardea 96:59–72.Received 28 March 2013Accepted 11 October 2013

Within-Season Nest Reuse by Mountain Plovers (\u3ci\u3eCharadrius Montanus\u3c/i\u3e) in Eastern Colorado

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Within-Season Nest Reuse by Mountain Plovers (\u3ci\u3eCharadrius Montanus\u3c/i\u3e) in Eastern Colorado

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