Sometimes even a nature lover like Charlie Fineran learns something that surprises him. That’s the case with his column this week which focuses on the Killdeer.

Let’s talk about the killdeer, our largest “ringed” plover. 

From research, we learn that this noisy plover is probably our best-known shorebird.  Few golf courses or extensive vacant lots are without their breeding pair of Killdeers.  When a nest is approached, the adult feigns injury, hobbling along with wings dragging as if badly wounded.  This behavior usually succeeds in luring a predator away from eggs or young, the bird then “recovers” and flies off, calling loudly.  A shorebird you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields and parking lots. They often spend their time walking along the ground or running ahead a few steps, stopping to look around, and running on again.  When disturbed they will break into flight and circle overhead, calling repeatedly.  Their flight is rapid, with stiff, intermittent wingbeats.

Here are the basics:

Description:  9-11 inches.  Brown above and white below, with 2 black bands across breast, long legs, and a relatively long tail.  In flight, shows rusty uppertail coverts and rump.

Voice:  A shrill kill-deee, killdeee or killdeer, killdeer.  Also dee-dee-dee.

Habitat:  Open country generally: plowed fields, golf courses, and short-grass praries.

Nesting:  4 pale buff eggs, sported with blackish brown, in a shallow depression lined with grass on bare ground.  Baby killdeer always come out running.  They hatch with their eyes open, and as soon their downy feathers dry, they start scurrying about, following their parents and searching the ground for something to eat.  Newly-hatched killdeer can’t fly, and they need their parents for protection and guidance, but they are a lot closer to independence than most baby birds.  Seeing fluffy killdeer chicks is one of the pleasures of summer.  Although they are lively right away, just hatched killdeer are like new fawns, a bit tottery and clumsy on their overly long legs.  It’s worth keeping an eye out for killdeer over the next couple of months, on a chance of glimpsing the endearing infants.

Range:  Breeds from Alaska east to Newfoundland and southward.  Winters regularly north to British Columbia, Utah, the Ohio Valley and Massachusetts.  Also in South America.

**DID YOU KNOW??  There are two types of baby birds.** 

Baby birds that hatch with their running shoes on are called (precocial)  Precocial means, “ripened beforehand.” (The word comes from the Latin source as “precocious”)  Other precocial birds besides killdeer are chickens, ducks, and quail.  None of these precocial babies lies in the nest and gets waited on.  Baby birds that hatch blind, naked and helpless are called (altrical), which comes from a Greek word meaning “wet nurse”  Robins are altrical, as are blue jays, cardinals and most other birds.  The hatchlings lie helplessly in their nests, relying utterly on their parents to bring them food and push it down their throats.  It is two weeks or more before they mature enough to leave the nest, and even after they leave it, their parents are still feeding them.

Precocial birds stay in the egg twice as long as altricial birds, so they have more time to develop.  A one-day-old killdeer chick is actually two weeks older than a one-day-old robin nestling.  Although adult robins and killdeer are the same size, a killdeer’s egg is twice as big as a robin’s.  There is more nourishment built into the killdeer egg, to sustain the embryo for its longer time in the shell.

 Killdeer protecting the nest – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCLPwyAeO68 

Story Behind the Photo of the Week – I was looking through my archives and came across several photos and videos of a Killdeer.  I can remember being surprised to seeing several of them in the fields right behind my house, I thought they were a shorebird!  But as I learned researching this article – They Are All Over North America!

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space

Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman

Allamuchy Historical Society – President