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Mystery Behavior Solved ~ Day 184

This morning I had a first in my yard. Every now and then I hear a bird with an annoying sound called a killdeer. They are also called shore birds, mostly found around water. Very noisy birds. But they also live in pastures and fields far from water. I learned something and it has given me a higher respect for these birds. First of all my story goes like this. I kept seeing this killdeer close to the neighborhood road scurrying around and dragging his wing like he was hurt. So of course I grab my camera and go out to help. He ran out into the street dragging his wing. I kept following him and he kept making his annoying sound louder and louder. I could not get a photo as he was running too fast. I found this pixabay imgage to give you an idea of what I saw.

I thought wait a minute, many birds are laying eggs right now. Let me look to see if I can find eggs. I know they will lay their eggs on the ground with no nest. Never seen it but read about it.  I looked around the gravel next to the road. Sure enough check it out, right in front of me. Four pretty big eggs. I quickly snapped a photo.

Egg Photo ©CarolDM2018

I then researched a little and found this is very normal survival skills for this bird. They will try to lure you away from their eggs or babies with this broken wing display. And they are good at it. After you’ve been fooled a time or two by the broken wing display, you don’t give the deceiving adult killdeer a second glance. Immediately, you look around for the killdeer eggs or babies.

Another amazing fact I did not know. Baby killdeer always come out running. They hatch with their eyes open, and as soon as 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, but they are a lot closer to independence than most baby birds.

I realize most of you are saying, oh bother, another bird post but I was so excited to learn something new. Especially about a bird I never gave a second glance to. If you ever see one of these birds remember this, they lay their eggs out in the open and be careful where you step. I could not get a photo of the killdeer as he scurried around so quickly. Here is a pixabay image to give you an idea of what they look like. Nature sometimes needs our help to survive.

Above photo courtesy of Pixabay

365 Photos Challenge Day 184

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Written by Carol DM

41 Comments

  1. I knew that birds were very imaginative in ways to protect their eggs and hatchlings. Runt is proof of that as some birds will directly attack him if he gets too close. But this type of behavior is news to me. Those eggs are so well blended in with the rocks. I just might have crushed one as I tend to look straight ahead and not on the ground. Great post. Sorry if I am late in commenting…

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  2. I learned some great interesting things about this type of bird. This type of bird is attractive in my opinion. The eggs look like the rocks so much in color.

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  3. Nature does not stop revealing our secrets. Very cunning tactics on the part of this killer bird. I never looked for eggs, they merge with the color of the stones. Thank you for this post Carol.

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    • I found it just bizarre. First of all why lay the eggs out in the open next to a road. But then the bird is smart enough to do the broken wing display. Absolutely amazing.

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