The Wife of a Dairyman ~ Churned in Cali: killdeer

Showing posts with label killdeer. Show all posts

May 1, 2011

Return of the Killdeer

A year ago, when I was first introduced to our resident Killdeer pair, I became enamored by them. The pair of them found their way to our front yard to make their nest and lay their eggs. I watched them everyday.

This spring, once again I've come across a Killdeer pair. Not in our front yard, but down on the ranch near the milking parlor, amongst the walnut orchard.

They lay their eggs in a nest they've built on the ground, usually in a gravel area. The amazing thing about this species is when they see a 'predator' coming in their direction, like me, the male or female, whom ever happens to be watching over the nest at the time, immediately run from the nest and fake a broken wing in hopes to draw the predator towards them and then fly away when he gets closer.

My first attempt in trying to find the nest of eggs was unsuccessful, but I knew I was close. Whomever was watching over the nest, mama or daddy, spotted me before I spotted her and ran in the opposite direction, and played the broken wing maneuver he had mastered.

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A bit of bad news......Update on the KillDeer

I'm sorry to share this bit of bad news. But I'm sure you want to remain updated on the progress of the KillDeer birds nesting in our front yard. I went out the other night to discover one of the eggs missing. The following night, a second egg was gone. Two remaining eggs. Who could be snatching the eggs? If it were a raccoon, I'm sure he would have swiped all the eggs at once.

Maybe these two had something to do with it. Dora and Diego are our feral cats living in our garage. Dora is the mother (on the right) and Diego is her son. I do like having Dora and Diego around, as they keep all other feral cats away from our house. Dora is a wild cat that no one can pet or even get very close to. Diego has become friendly, we can actually pet him now. They have both been fixed, thanks in part to 'Marin Friends of Ferals' for trapping them and bringing them down to the facility for the procedure. All that was required of me was paying for the spay and neuter and picking them up. They've lived here for a couple of years now. The Two Remaining Eggs A few days later, my kids and their cousins were outside playing, and one of them apparently came too close to the nest. They didn't step on the eggs, just close enough to the nest that caused one of the surrounding rocks to be pushed up against both of the eggs. A hair line crack in each of the eggs. The chicks had not formed yet. All that was visible was yolk.

I walked back out, just 10 minutes later to take a photo and both cracked eggs had disappeared from the nest. Looking around, I found that the mother or father bird had carried the eggs out onto the pavement where they cracked open entirely.

I was so saddened by this. I've decided if the KillDeer return to nest again in our gravel, I will section off the area with string. Maybe they will have a better chance of survival that way. Although, I can't do anything about the cats, especially once the eggs hatch.

Here is the mother or father after she/he carried the egg out. (you can see the egg in the upper left corner of the photo)

Hopefully the KillDeer will come again next spring.

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March 30, 2010

KillDeer & My very own Egg Hunt

Part of what I LOVE about living in the country is being so close to wildlife. If I'm lucky, I can actually photograph some interesting things. Just recently, I noticed two birds hanging out on the gravel near our lawn. They seemed a bit out of place because, one, I had NEVER seen this species of bird before and two, they spent more time hopping around on the ground than they did flying and lastly, when Chloe (puppy) was outside running around or on potty time, the birds would act as though they were trying to get her attention. Almost taunting her. I didn't know what to think. Hawks and at night, owls have hovered over Chloe but not usually small birds. The birds have distinctive black and white stripes at their neck. Before I tried to find the species on-line, I thought I should ask Dominic first, this might save me some time. After describing the bird to Dominic, he thought they were named 'KillDeer'. He also told me that he's only seen them in 'Joey's' (horse) pasture. I googled 'KillDeer' and sure enough, there they were. This is what they look like. I snapped these photos from my car as I was driving out.

Through my research on-line, I found out some very interesting facts about this species of bird. Both male and female take part in all the nesting activities. The nest is on the ground at a site that provides a good view from all sides. Fields, barren open spots, gravel bars, and closely grazed pastures (sometimes near or on dried-out cow or horse manure) are common sites. The nest is a shallow scrape sometimes lined with pebbles, broken grass stems, and limestone or wood chips. The female lays four or, very rarely, five pear-shaped eggs, which are large and blunt at one end and pointed at the other and average 36.5 by 26.5 mm in size. The eggs are irregularly spotted, blotched, or scrawled with blackish-brown or black, and always neatly arranged in a circle with the pointed ends turned inwards. Since the eggs can be damaged by excessive heat or cold, they are rarely left unattended. Both the male and female take turns incubating them, or keeping them warm. On very hot days the attending bird may stand over the nest, shading the eggs with its body, at the same time allowing cooling breezes to circulate over them. Since the KillDeer has a view in all directions from the nest, it spots intruders right away.......like Chloe and tries to distract her right away.

Ah Ha! This explains it!

When Chloe is outside, one of the birds flies and sings in the air trying to taunt the her. If this doesn't distract Chloe, the other bird acts as though it has a broken wing on the ground and is unable to fly. Once Chloe gets close to the bird, it flies away. This is amazing to me. The bird is luring Chloe away from the nest. This is a characteristic of the species.

Here, the KillDeer is faking her broken wing for Chloe (I had Chloe on leash to see how this all worked)....... Flapping one wing while the other lays on the ground..... After reading all of this information, I was on a mission to find that nest and those eggs! My very own Egg Hunt. I watched from my window to see where the birds hung out when nobody was outside. I searched. I found. I took photos.

Look how camouflaged these are........

I have not shown the eggs to the kids for fear of later finding them in the house in their bedrooms, tucked away in a box or worse....under their pillows. I hope the eggs survive. Incubation is around 24 days. I'll keep you posted. Chloe is going to require being kept on a leash when I take her out to go potty when and if the babies hatch.