#AtoZChallenge2020: Killdeer

Theme: Natural Texas

“Killdeer”

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferusare) are birds that are members of the plover or lapwings (plump-breasted shore birds) family. They like to live near coastlines and open fields. Killdeer are widespread throughout the Americas and Europe. The vociferusare part of the Latin name is due to these birds being very noisy. Even though they like shorelines, killdeer tend to also live near developed areas such as farmland, gravel, pastures, parking lots, and golf courses. They like to eat grasshoppers, snails, crayfish, worms, centipedes, snails, and seeds. When farmers are plowing, they take advantage of the upturned earth to forage for food.

Killdeer make nests digging in the ground, short grasses, or even in gravel. They often use twigs, pebbles, and grass to create a border for their nests.

The female gives birth to four eggs of light or dark brown with spots.

Interestingly, these birds act injured to lure any predators away from the nest, with both the males and females getting in on the act (the Charadrius part of the name). After the chicks are hatched, they protect themselves by flattening on the ground and not moving at all until the parents give an all-clear. They camouflage well. They adults also fuss loudly around a predator and get other killdeer to help them and it drives the predators away.

The killdeer can fly fast, but it is an erratic flight. They do not fly for extensive periods. These birds walk most of the time, but they can run fast, too. Their coloring gets insects to move, as they startle their prey.

This bird lives in Texas year-round.