Tuesday, June 4, 2013

~ Killdeer Birds On A Nest ~

Many of you know I have a large piece of property to mow. 
5.5 hours from start to finish not including the trimming.  With sunscreen on, hair in a pony tail, ball cap on top I'm off for the ride. Around here you never know what you might spot while mowing.

The first time I had ever seen a killdeer was at our last home. Small in stature they are the cutest birds, but loud very loud. Once you approach them they put out quite the sound. From Wikipedia: Their name comes from their frequently heard call. These birds will frequently use a distraction display ("broken-wing act") to distractpredators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators then think they have easy prey and are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, they will move closer and get louder until they get the attention of the predator. This is repeated until the predator is far from the nest, and the killdeer suddenly "heals" and flies away.[5][7]

Mama bird is not happy with me getting so close to her nest full of babies.

The nest itself is merely a shallow depression or bowl in the ground, fringed by some stones and blades of grass.[5] T source Wikipedia.
For more information you can go HERE.
The adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. The eyeing orange-red. The chicks are patterned almost identically to the adults, and are precocial— able to move around immediately after hatching. The Killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest. It is named onomatopoeically after its call.[2]



Finally satisfied I'm not going to come any closer Mama bird settles back down on her nest, I start the mower and continue on for a few hours to finish the mowing.
After hitting publish and sharing on GOOGLE, only to discover everything I had written disappeared, has that happened to you before? I put the post back together less words this time around. lol
Fondly ~ Lynne ~
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1 comment:

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Thanks for sharing - great pics.
My daughter used to have one to nest in her back yard for several years. I have wondered why they make their nest right out in the open/unsheltered the way they do.