Killdeer nest on the north green...

We finally have a nesting pair of Killdeer at the office! Larry spotted the nest a week or so ago, and I photographed the bird and the eggs on May 20. We set up a ring of orange cones around the nest to keep the evil lawnmower man from inadvertently running over it. I checked the nest over the weekend, and Momma Killdeer is still attending her four eggs...

Momma Killdeer keeping a watchful eye on the nest.

Killdeer usually lay four eggs in a nest that is nothing more than a scrape in the dirt. They love gravelly areas, so it was no surprise our couple placed their nest near the rocky swale leading to the detention pond. Killdeer are not timid birds, and they don't shy away from human habitation. They often nest in gravel along parking lots and sidewalks. Last June I photographed a Killdeer couple that nested at the Lindner Family Tennis Center...right in the middle of the action (click here if you want to read about that encounter).

Four Killdeer eggs hidden in plain sight. 

The cryptic coloration pattern on the eggs provides camouflage. If you don't know exactly where to look, the eggs are nearly invisible. Killdeer are members of the plover family, which makes them shorebirds, but you don't have to go to the shore to see them. They love short grass, meadows, gravelly driveways and roadsides, golf courses, and even construction areas. They do like to be near water, however, and our slow-moving little stream seems to do the trick (yeah, little stream!). It's easy to distinguish Killdeer from other plovers because they have two black breast bands and a red eye ring. You would think this plumage coloration would make them easy prey for predators, but the black bands provide disruptive coloration, an effective camouflage pattern for rocky and gravelly terrain.

Two black breast bands and a red eye ring distinguish adult Killdeer from other plovers.

Killdeer move on the ground like other plovers, running in short bursts and then stopping suddenly. If you get too close to the nest, one of the nesting pair will exhibit a broken-wing distraction display. You know you're too close to the nest if you see the bird flopping around like it has a broken wing while uttering a pitiful cry. The adult is trying to lead you away from the nest. I didn't get a photo of the broken-wing distraction display because I used my long lens and was far away. I didn't want to disturb the couple because I wanted to make sure they would stick around. Click here for the tennis center post mentioned earlier, which has an example of the broken-wing behavior.

After a short mad dash, our little Killdeer pauses to look around.

I can never resist that beautiful red eye ring!

Killdeer chicks are precocial, which means when they hatch their eyes are open, and they are ready for business! Unlike robins, cardinals, sparrows, and other common songbirds that hatch blind, featherless, and unable to feed themselves (altricial), Killdeer chicks hatch with fluffy feathers, and they are up, moving, and ready to eat on their own as soon as their feathers dry. Precocial birds stay in the egg twice as long as altricial songbirds, which usually hatch in about two weeks. Our little Killdeer hatchlings won't make an appearance until they have incubated for about 25 days. Until then, the orange cones will stay on the north green...

Stay away lawnmower man (as well as raccoons, opossums, skunks, foxes, squirrels, and even mice...all predators of the ground nesting Killdeer).