• Friday-What'sUP June 8 - 06:58 pm

Barb Bouwkamp sent in these photos of a Killdeer performing the ritual they act out, in the hope of protecting their nest. She was in the Big Traverse area when she spotted this Killdeer on her nest and don't worry folks, she didn't disturb the nesting mother, but took the photos from a distance with her telephoto lens. The typical distraction act they use, is to get up from the nest and walk away from it a distance, hoping to lead you (or a predator) away from the nest, while holding its wing out like it is injured, flapping around on the ground like it is in distress. The entire performance is just to distract you from their nest. Pretty clever, actually and amazing how nature adapts to protect their young. Thanks, Barb, for capturing the display for us to see.

Excellent pictures!! Love bird watching! Our little bluebirds have left the nest but there's one who sits with mom and dat waiting to be fed, lol! Now we have some wrens in another of our houses, and I think swallows in the one up front. I do so love our birds!

Interesting pics and name.

Kildeer are clever in distracting, but dumb in "siting" their nests, usually in the wide open without any natural protection. I recall one laying its eggs right in the midst of my just tilled and planted garden. Within a day the nest had been ravaged and the eggs destroyed. It's a wonder the species survive.

This weekend is "Free Fishing" weekend, no license required in Michigan (and our U.P.), a wonderful time and opportunity to get the grand-kids out, teach a little "Sportsmanship"....emphasize the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of all wild things. Hope the weather cooperates!

Love those birds! A pair, with their 'chicks' hung around our backyard one time, they didn't seem frightened but would lead the young away if we went outside. They tickle me walking...look like wind-up toys! :>

What interesting photos! I don't think mama bird chose a very soft area for nesting.lol

There are killdeer all around my neighborhood in the fields where houses haven't been built yet. They find the gravel/stone areas and nest each year. They are fun to watch. Boy, do they make a lot of noise!

Happy Birthday Olga.....88 years young and many more to come. ;O)

I have always wondered what type of birds these were! Thank You!

It is a pretty bird, I like the beige in the tail.

Once they hatch, the young ones look like little fuzz balls on two sticks.

Hi
JAD, it's arguable as to whether a killdeer choosing to site it's nest in a tilled-earth human garden is any dumber than a human building a house in a floodplain. As long as all individuals in a species don't make bad choices, the species will be OK.

Another issue is habitat loss; if they can't find any natural habitat not already occupied by another killdeer, maybe that would be why they'd try in a human-altered landscape. I do remember one attempting to nest in landscaped traffic island at one company that I worked at. It was both funny and sad watching it try to lead cars away from it's nest.

I had a "built-up" flat roof on my business. While checking on that roof I found a nighthawk had laid several egg right out in the open. With all that roofing tar I was sure the eggs would be too hot. Erected a sun shade and thought I had done a good thing. The next day I found the mother bird had moved the whole nest 15' away. They all hatched out just fine from there. Mother Nature knows best!

We always used to find killdeer out in the fields of MI's thumb area. They'd have nests in between the bean rows, sugar beets, etc. If we saw them in time we'd lift the cultivator or turn off the sprayer or whatever to try to avoid hurting them.

I always love the musical call of the killdeer. Never saw one of their nests but then they seen to know from experience what to do. I so enjoy sitting on my little patio, admiring my flowers and hearing the varied bird calls. So pleased to see the bluebirds and the calls of the catbird especiallly.The pleasure is magnified in the quiet.

Years ago a Killdeer had 4 eggs in a row of strawberries plants in my garden. Good choice, it was the only row I didn't till very close to. I would have never seen the nest if she hadn't just left it when I was walking by it. The only way I could find it was by counting the plants to where the nest was located. At the time my son was about 9 and I showed him the nest and told him not to touch it and not to tell his sisters about it. They were 5 and 3. The birds all hatched and as far as we knew all survived.

That's interesting, JH, have to wonder if they always lay 4 eggs as in the above photo. The ones we saw in our backyard had 4 youngsters.

Usually there are 4 eggs, and all the ones I've seen have been arranged just as shown in the phote -- small ends in the middle. It's interesting that as symmetrically as they are arranged, it's still hard to spot the 'nest' in gravel or rocks unless you really know where to look for it.

Getting to this one very late, but in case anyone visits this page... Building on what Mary and Eugenia already said... Notice how the eggs look like stones... alright, not the stones in the immediate vicinity, but if they were just on a plain surface taken by themselves, they look like stones. This species may have evolved to laying eggs on the ground because nesting sites up high are often harder to come by, whereas potential nesting sites on the ground would be more plentiful. To compensate for the increased risk of predation, they evolved the trickery behavior and eggs that look like just another pile of rocks.