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Breeding Range. Observations by Roosevelt (1885) indicate that Mountain Plovers at one time were breeding in the vicinity of his Elkhorn Ranch in Billings County (within Township T144N, R102W). His report concerning this species is as follows:

"A more curious bird than any of these is the plains plover, which avoids the water and seems to prefer the barren plateaus and almost desert-like reaches of the sage-brush and alkali. Plains plovers, are pretty birds, and not at all shy. In all, they are fat and good eating, but they are not plentiful enough to be worth going after. Sometimes they are to be seen in the most seemingly unlikely places for a wader to be. Last spring one pair nested in a broken piece of Bad Lands near my ranch, where the ground is riven and twisted into abrupt, steep crests and deep canyons. The soil is seemingly wholly unfitted to support bird life, as it is almost bare of vegetation, being covered with fossil plants, shells, fishes, etc. "

Lincoln (1925) reports that he observed a Mountain Plover in the vicinity of Carter's Slough near Hankinson in Richland County on July 29, 1921. He believed that this bird had a nest or young in the vicinity since it was exceptionally fearless and repeatedly allowed him to approach within 10 feet. However, it seems more likely that this bird actually was either an early fall migrant or wandering vagrant. This idea is suggested by the facts that July 29 is very late for indicated breeding, and that southeastern North Dakota is far removed from the normal breeding range of this species.