Wild Child: Who's running along the gound?

Have you noticed a brown bird that seems to spend most of its time running, stopping, then running again?

We often see these birds foraging at the edges of the baseball diamond at Westminster Ponds.

A Killdeer stands in water. Its brown upper and 2 black neck bands are clearly visible.

A killdeer in flight. Its white lower parts are clearly visible.

Size/Shape

Killdeer are about the size of a robin, with longer legs and a slender form. They have long tails and pointed wings with a round head and bright round eye. They have short bills.

Colour

Killdeer are brown on top with white below. They also have an orange-buff rump that is easier to see when they fly. The most distinguishing feature from other types of plovers are the 2 black neck bands. They also have brown and black patches on their white faces.

Behaviour

Killdeer spend a lot of time running or walking along the ground, stopping to look around then running or walking again. When disturbed they may fly in circles overhead calling loudly, ordinally they were called noisy plovers because of this behaviour.

They are well known for pretending to have a broken wing to lure predators away from their ground level nests.

Habitat

Killdeer like open spaces with low vegetation. Even though they they are shore birds and swim well, you will often find them in fields, golf courses, and even sandy lots where they can forage along the ground.

More information

Learn more about the Killdeer here and listen to it’s flight call (kill-DEER) here.

Written by Tandy Morton, Wild Child Outdoor Playgroup Facilitator