Killdeer and Its Trickery

Killdeers are very territorial birds.  I learned how aggressive they can be while photographing Great Blue Heron and Great Egret in early spring.

After ten minutes of photographing Heron and Egret suddenly a Killdeer appeared out of nowhere. The bird was determined to drive me away and began to make menacing calls.  I assume that somewhere nearby was its nest.

To keep the eggs safe from predators, these birds use camouflage and trickery.

The Killdeer often pretends that it has a broken wing to protect eggs or young. This behavior called "a broken-wing act" that often accompanied by a pitiful call.  

The Killdeer I met that day acted as its wing was broken, it stumbled and dragged one wing. 

If you try to follow Killdeer, a bird will lead you to a safe distance from its nest and then will take off and fly away. Later it will sneak back to the nest.  

Generally, life is good.

Killdeer in the Desert Marsh

 

Killdeer and Its Trickery

To keep the eggs and young safe from predators, the Killdeer use camouflage and trickery.

I saw once how a bird acted as if it was injured, a Killdeer was flopping on the ground, but when I got close it flew away leaving me dumbfounded.  

A Killdeer often pretends to have a broken wing to protect eggs or young.  This behavior called "a broken-wing act" that often accompanied by pitiful call.  

A Killdeer also can stumble and drag one wing.  It can be very convincing. If you try to follow it, a bird will lead you to a safe distance from the its nest and then will take off and fly away. Later it will sneak back to the nest.  

Generally, life is good!

Killdeer on the Rocks

When I spotted this Killdeer my first thought was that he/she was nesting. Both female and male incubate so there is no way I could tell what gender was this Killdeer.

The Killdeer was by the road laying on the rocks and making noise as if he/she was threatening someone.  I looked around and saw a Swainson's Hawk on the pole. He was a several feet away and didn't pay attention to Killdeer.

At some moment Killdeer got up and started to walk along the road. Soon he would take flight.

That was an unusual encounter with this bird. It brought a lot of questions and no answers. I hope I didn't disturb much this wonderful bird. 

Again Killdeer

Sometimes looking at computer at your photographs can be very surprising. Thus, photographing this Killdeer I didn't notice that he caught something. 

Photographing Killdeers can be very frustrating. They are skittish, they run fast but there are days when Killdeers suddenly become very cooperative. And I am not sure why.

They even may show to you their cleaning skills.

Showing Flying and Landing Skills

At the beginning of last summer I watched how Killdeer was pirouetting in front of me showing his flying and landing skills and then making himself handsome and clean.

Killdeers

The pair of Killdeers found a nice spot to enjoy early morning at Bear River. 

A Bird with a Loud Call

For a while I didn't understand why this bird has such an odd name Killdeer.  Right now I know that this name was given to it because of its call that is very loud and piercing kill-dee.  I even tried to imitate it but wasn't very successful.

Killdeer has the white fluffy feathers on its chest and the chicks can huddle under these warm feathers when they are very young. 

Killdeer is a large plower.  It has two black bands around its neck and breast. 

Killdeer

This is my third time taking pictures of a bird from my car.
What amazes me that birds don't perceive a car as a threat.
They are absolutely oblivious to your car and you.
Killdeer was so calm, so relaxed letting me take as many pictures as I wanted.
The difficult part was to find later what kind of bird it was.
I found Killdeer in the category "the shore birds" 
and learned that they are migratory birds.