Killdeer

A shorebird that you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are plovers commonly found locally on lawns, golf courses, athletic fields or parking lots. 

The tawny colored birds—brownish tan on top and white below—have the characteristic round heads, large eyes and short bills of all plovers. Killdeer are slender and lanky with long pointed tails and long wings. The brown face is marked with black and white patches, and the orange rump is conspicuous in flight.

Typically you can see these birds running across the ground in spurts, quickly stopping to check their progress or to see if they startled any insect prey. Near the shore, they inhabit open areas such as sandbars, mud flats and grazed fields.

Killdeer feed primarily on invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, crayfish, grasshoppers, beetles and the larvae of aquatic insects. They also follow farmers' plows for unearthed worms or insect larvae.

The nest of the Killdeer is a shallow depression scratched into the bare ground. Killdeer will add rocks, bits of shell, sticks and trash to the nest for camouflage.

Broken-wing display

Killdeer distract predators from the nest by running away, calling loudly and bobbing up and down. They are one of the best practitioners of the "broken-wing display," an attempt to lure predators away by feigning injury. After the predator is distracted, the Killdeer flies off. The broken-wing display obviously does not prevent cows or horses from stepping on the nest. In cases like these, the Killdeer fluffs itself up, displaying its tail over its head and charging the beast in an attempt to get it to change its path.

The typical brood of four to six eggs is incubated for 22 to 28 days. Chicks can walk as soon as their feathers dry.

Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call. Eighteenth-century naturalists used to call them "Chattering Plovers" or "Noisy Plovers."