Thursday, May 24, 2007

Killdeer (Charadrius wilsonia)

A female Killdeer. Photo by Bruce Spencer. The gravel road that leads to our farm is paralleled by a ditch for run-off water. In one section of the ditch water runs so fast that we had to fill it with rocks as big as your fist, to prevent erosion. Strange, but female Killdeer consider this the perfect place to lay eggs.

Killdeer are tall, slight birds that are related to Plovers – you can distinguish a Killdeer by its double black neck bands and golden-tawny tail feathers. Each spring the Killdeer come back to our area from wherever they’ve been during the winter (some range as far south as the West Indies and costal Peru) and look for a nesting site. We always have one or two along our ditch. The eggs are a dark speckled gray and blend in well with rocks.

A female Killdeer in a broken wing display. Photo by Bruce Spencer.

Killdeer have a special behavior that’s pretty amazing to see. When you approach a nest the female will – very obviously - run a short distance away. As you get closer the bird will develop a broken wing, and struggle as if it is helpless (as in the photo). If you try to catch the bird it will continue to display and move just out of your reach - it’s all an attempt to draw you away from the nest. Killdeer are tireless at this game - they think our car is a threat and go into this display amost every time we drive down the road.

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