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04/14/2007 06:55:09 PM · #1 |
What a wonderful bird. Me and  Smartypants came across this pair today, a male and female protecting their eggs:
 
When you approach their eggs, in this case, hidden in some woodchips beside a tree
They get very agitated and start making a racket
 
And if you don't leave, they begin an awesome show, as though they're lame, or have a broken wing. Anything to distract the predator away from their eggs:
  
Great display of nature in her ingenuity, and a wonderful bird! All these shot with the 70-200 f4 and 400 f5.6. |
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04/14/2007 07:54:14 PM · #2 |
| My mum and dad had a willy-wag tail that had built a nest on their house and every time you went too close it would carry on like that and it would fly to the ground and act injured. Must be something common among birds to distract a preditor from their young. |
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04/14/2007 10:10:23 PM · #3 |
Wow, excellent pictures! So interesting about the acting lame to distract predators. I am an on again, off again birdwatcher so I love stuff like this. I have never seen a Killdeer though.
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04/14/2007 10:23:49 PM · #4 |
Fantastic images, and a great capture of the protective measures undertaken by these birds. Haven't seen any here yet, but looking forward to hearing their very distinctive calls.
Ray |
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04/14/2007 10:24:12 PM · #5 |
I just saw my first pair of Killdeer this week (odd name for a bird, isn't it?). They're really striking with those striped bands. I didn't get close enough to irritate them. Probably just as well for the pair I saw, but your pix of the display are fascinating!
Oh, and if you want an example of a bird who refuses to play victim when you go near her nest, try a Northern Mockingbird. They'll divebomb people, dogs, cats ... they're fearless little things. |
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04/14/2007 10:57:55 PM · #6 |
every year for the past 2 years weve had a pair in our driveway...this summer i will get some pictures
they dig their nests on the side of our driveway and it IS quite a show they put on when i walk to and from school lol
Message edited by author 2007-04-14 22:59:03. |
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04/14/2007 11:03:01 PM · #7 |
Here are a few killdeer links:
one, another, yet another, the obligatory wiki entry, and a final link.
Their eggs take three to four weeks to hatch. We plan to go back and try to get the hatchlings, which are up and about almost immediately. |
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04/15/2007 08:24:47 AM · #8 |
There are bunches of them around my house. They like to nest along my driveway. They are really noisy, but fun to watch. Picture I took summer before last. |
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