The elusive Mountain Plover draws hundreds of bird lovers to a Colorado festival each spring. Here’s why

Mountain Plovers are a celebrated bird species in parts of Colorado. But if you’ve never seen one, you’re in the majority.  

Mountain Plovers nest on Colorado’s eastern plains and are sometimes referred to as the “prairie ghost” because their sandy-colored plumage makes them hard to spot.  

The annual Mountain Plover Festival in Karval – which begins this Friday – celebrates this bird.   

The festival draws hundreds of visitors each year and owes much of its success to support from local ranchers, who have gotten involved in preserving Mountain Plover habitat. 

Angela Dwyer is a manager for the stewardship program of the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. She joined Erin O’Toole to talk about the ranchers, the festival and the plovers — including why this prairie loving bird has “mountain” in its name.

The sound of Mountain Plovers used in this episode can be found in the Cornel Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library.  

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.