Fascinating Facts About the Killdeer Bird
鈥淜i-deah! Ki-deah!鈥 You鈥檒l hear this loud, piercing call before seeing the small, graceful bird flying above. The killdeer can be found all over North America from spring onward. Listen to their unusual call and learn about this odd bird鈥檚 famous 鈥渂roken wing鈥 display, nesting habits (what nest?!), and odd habits.
Where Do Killdeer Live? Everywhere!
The Return of the Killdeer may not be Hollywood-sequel material. Still, for those who keep a close eye on their local baseball field, golf course, horse pasture, airport, suburban backyard, or even public parking lot, killdeer will be coming to a place near you!
Once you can identify the killdeer, you鈥檒l find they鈥檙e a common sight in and around towns. Killdeer are about the size of a robin, and like robins, we often see them on the ground.
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Graceful in flight and handsome in appearance, with a rusty-red tail and a series of black-and-white bands around the neck and head, you鈥檒l most often see the killdeer speed-walking a few short, shuffling steps over open ground and then stopping suddenly as if he鈥檚 had a thought.
If his movements make you think he belongs at the beach, you鈥檙e not all wrong: the killdeer is a shorebird, a family that includes sandpipers, plovers, godwits, dowitchers, and other residents of our coasts and mudflats. But unlike most of its relatives, the killdeer breeds throughout the continent, often far from water. They鈥檙e at home anywhere. Yes, he鈥檚 a shorebird as comfortable away from water as in water!
Why Is it Called a Killdeer?
No, these birds do not kill deer! They鈥檙e named after their call, which sounds a bit like 鈥渒ill-deer.鈥 (This is similar to the chick-a-dee, also named after the sound of its call.)
The killdeer most often calls in this high, repetitive way when flying above, often just communicating with other birds; they are a very vocal species. Some folks think the call sounds sad or eerie. Some think it sounds like a leaky balloon! Rest assured that their screech does not mean they鈥檙e upset. They have a different call for warnings!
See what you think. Check out this from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
No Nest!
The killdeer makes no nest at all! The bird lays its eggs right out in the open on gravelly, sandy, or otherwise disturbed ground. When it chooses a driveway, construction site, or farm field, interaction with humans is inevitable. In fact, the killdeer seems very tolerant of humans. Unlike most birds, when humans are too close by, the killdeer will often run away first rather than fly off. And this leads to one of the killdeer鈥檚 most distinctive behaviors鈥
The Broken Wing Display
Approached by a person, a killdeer will startle up from its eggs, tilt itself sideways, letting one wing hang down as though broken, and limp away most pitifully. (For one of many home videos of the act, .) Yes, he鈥檚 faking an injury! The display serves as a marvelous distraction from the eggs, which are themselves ingeniously camouflaged with black-and-white speckling. Often, it can be difficult to pick them out from their pebbly background, even from only a few feet away.
Amazingly, the killdeer seems to discern different threats to its nest and tailors its response accordingly. While the impressive acting of the broken-wing display is useful to lure people, dogs, and other predators away from the eggs, the bird tries other maneuvers to keep the eggs from accidental trampling by hoofed animals. Arthur Cleveland Bent, in his Life Histories of North American Birds, records the following anecdotes:
Howard Lacey (1911) noticed that a flock of driven goats divided. 鈥淚 walked up to the place expecting to find a rattlesnake and found instead a killdeer standing over her eggs with up spread wings and scolding vigorously.鈥 Norman Criddle (1908) writes, 鈥淚f the danger came from a cow or horse, the tactics were changed, and the birds with both wings and feathers spread out would run into the animal鈥檚 face, and so by startling it drive the intruder away.鈥
If you startle a killdeer near your home this spring, and you think it may be nesting, take a few minutes to determine the exact location. Back away and allow the incubating mother (or father) to return to the eggs. Later, you can mark the spot with a small flag to avoid disturbing it. The eggs take less than a month to hatch, and as soon as they do, the parents lead the chicks to a more protected area.
Photograph by Len Medlock
Even close to human activity, the killdeer can raise two broods of three to four chicks each summer. The sight of a newly hatched killdeer鈥攁 cotton ball perched on ostrich legs that almost immediately can run at great speed鈥攚ill warm even the wintry heart.
Catherine Boeckmann
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We have a Killdeer family at the top of the circle of our neighborhood's cul du sac. Last year we developed a garden area which had been just junipers, Day lillies and a Maple tree in the center. We believe there were Killdeers nesting in some undeveloped property behind our neighborhood. Sadly the land is now being build on. This pair found a new nesting home with us.
Wonderful story about the Killdeer family. Please continue to share more stories about these unique birds. Glad to hear they are nesting with you.
This is so interesting. There is a nest in our front yard. We'll try to keep it protected and mow a circle around it until the babies hatch.
I love this article! I just thought someone should say thank you!
