Within-season nest reuse by mountain plovers (Charadrius montanus) in Eastern Colorado

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.