Killdeer (Pluvier kildir)

     It can hardly be in dispute that some birds have an innate appeal that is lacking in others, or at the very least is not so apparent. No one, for example, remarks on first seeing a vulture, "Oh it's so cute!"
    A Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), however, is at the complete opposite end of the scale. Not only is it visually entrancing, its lifestyle promotes admiration also and it is not hard for many to identify with it in short order. The fact that it habituates well to human landscapes serves only to add to the attraction.
     I was thinking about this a couple of days ago when I saw this individual while birding locally. It was in the parking lot of a local church.

     This little plover is a hardy character, arriving early in the spring, often while there is still snow and ice on the ground.

     It manages to find food and survives late winter storms. It derives its name from its onomatopoeic call, which can be heard as soon as the bird arrives back on its breeding territory.
     This is a bird that frequents a wide variety of open habitats - fields, mudflats, sandy shores, gravel. It often locates its nest on a stony substrate where the eggs are well camouflaged, and is not averse to choosing a gravel pathway at a house, where it flies off the nest each time people go to and fro, but seems to raise its young successfully if not subjected to predation, especially by marauding cats.
     It is equally at home in a marshy area with a muddy substrate with scattered stones, where its eggs are camouflaged to perfection, the principal threat sometimes originating with heavy-footed humans.

     The following images were all taken in an area of mixed industry and retail malls, in a small section still awaiting development.

     Their nests were successful even though there was a constant flow of traffic going by and it was hardly a quiet, secluded spot.
      A typical clutch is four eggs, and there is nothing more appealing than a young Killdeer, born precocial and "good to go" soon after hatching.

     As you can see from the image above, they are virtual little replicas of their parents, lacking only the second dark band.
     Their ability to remain camouflaged safeguards them well from danger.

     Both sexes share incubation of the eggs and take care of the young. 

     The Killdeer is a virtual paradigm for what is known as a broken wing display, where an adult bird feigns injury, dragging its wing along the ground and uttering a distress call, to lure a would-be predator away from its young.

     As soon as the predator has been enticed sufficiently far from the young, the adult bird simply flies away, leaving the attacker frustrated and with no choice but to find another source of food.
     The care and attention that a pair of Killdeer devote to their young is impressive by any standards, and many humans could learn valuable lessons from these conscientious parents.
     I think I know where I can probably find one right now. Maybe I'll go and take a look!