Strike two. Actually there is a pretty big study around Glasgow focused on this bird. I think they are in the second year of the study. By the way, this bird was color banded as well.
Well, it's some kinda Plover, maybe a Mountain Plover. The problem with Plovers is they change coloring from winter to summer and it makes them hard to identify, especially when they're changing (hard for me, anyway).
Nemont fouled off the first two, then smacked a homer. The answer is mountain plover. Sorry about the crappy picture. Here is a better one, but not mine.
This bird was captured in Phillips County, MT, my old stomping grounds, and a pretty good place to cap prairie dogs.
Dang, wish I had seen this topic sooner. I think I may have had a chance.
There's actually a lot of vegetation there for it to have mountain plovers.
MORE COLORADO LANDOWNERS SIGN VOLUNTARY MOUNTAIN PLOVER AGREEMENT IN 2004
~ Colorado farmers sign agreement to help conserve "ghosts of the prairie." ~
June 24, 2004
More than 20 landowners have signed agreements this year to support ongoing state and federal efforts to conserve mountain plovers, small, insect-eating birds that nest on fallow, and freshly cultivated farmland on Colorado’s Eastern Plains.
The landowners have inked voluntary memorandums of agreement in support of the state’s mountain plover conservation effort, an important part of Colorado’s ambitious, long-term Conservation Plan for Grassland Species.