A Killdeer Family

Driving through miles of marshland, I reached Cedar Island Wildlife Refuge.

I pulled off the road near a grassy field adjacent to Cedar Island Bay, where I was immediately greeted by a pair of screeching birds. I got out of the car to get a closer look at the large plovers, commonly known as Killdeer.

Charadrius vociferous –whoever named this bird “vociferous” got it right! Killdeer are always conspicuous and noisy, breaking the tranquility with their piercing calls.

I watched as one of the birds struggled in the tall grass, fluttering and dragging its wings along the ground. I was witnessing the well-known broken-wing display commonly used by the Killdeer as well as other plovers. The bird was pretending to be injured, trying to look pitiful!

This behavior is a diversion tactic, used to lure predators away from the Killdeer’s nest. Typically, the nest is on the ground and really hard to find. In this case it was probably well hidden in the grass. Something moved off to the left. It was a bright-eyed Killdeer chick!

The bold little thing seemed oblivious to my presence, darting right into the street. It stopped abruptly straddling the yellow lines. Fortunately, this was a low-traffic, dead-end street.

Although it couldn’t fly, it scurried around quickly, independent of its worried parents, who were taking turns following behind.

The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, able to feed themselves right away. It takes about 25 days until one is able to fly. Constant surveillance is a necessary part of parenthood.

Here you can see the two distinct breast bands of the adult, which make it stand out from other plovers. The chicks temporarily have only one band.

Curious about the name “Killdeer?” It’s derived from the bird’s shrill kill-dee-dee call. Even in other languages, the name is similar. For example, in Dutch, it’s known as Kievit, in Danish it’s Kildire and in Estonian it’s kilatüll. The Germans, however, call this bird Regenpfeifer and in Spanish, it’s Chorlitejo. The Swedish version, Skrikstrandpipare, is my favorite.

Killdeer are not just on the coast. You’ll find them in any wide-open, flat space, such as a meadow or grassy lot, or even on sports fields and golf courses.

Other coastal plovers are here in summer…

 
 Wild under the frowning hills
 Come the killdeer crying
 The cry that is lonelier than midnight
 And swifter than feet of darkness.
 
          -Harold Hoffman, 1924
   

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