Bird of the Week: Killdeer

By Tom Stephens

Staff Writer

The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a shorebird that has made its home across the open farmlands of Logan County, indeed throughout North America.

A member of the plover family, killdeer are easily recognized by their voice – a noisy and insistent call of two syllables from which it gets its name (kill-deeah) – and the two black bands that cover its white breast.

In flight, the belly is white, the top of their wings are marked with a white stripe running from the body to the tip and its gold-colored rump is prominent.

While most plovers prefer to live near water, the killdeer has adapted to live in open country, farmland and fields where it finds most of its diet, that being insects, although in winter months it will also feed on other invertebrates and seeds.

As for nesting, a breeding pair will simply scrape a small trench in an open field – very often a cow or horse pasture or other ground where the vegetation is low – in which the eggs are laid, this before covering the clutch with straw, leaves or even pebbles.

In addition to their distinctive loud and frequent calls – early English settlers often called them Chattering or Noisy plovers – killdeer are also known to fake a broken wings to lead predators away from their clutch of eggs.

Male killdeer have also been found using their loud and rowdy calls and ruffled feathers to try and intimidate cows that wander too close to their nests.

Strictly ground feeders, killdeer do not visits backyard feeders. Rather, they prefer ground that has short or even no vegetation, where they sprint in quick stretches to kick up insects to eat.

While preferring open spaces, being members of the plover family killdeer are no strangers to water and are excellent swimmers, though one is quite more likely to see (and hear) a killdeer in open fields, golf courses, and large lawns.■