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| This is a mama or papa killdeer. When a predator (like me) gets near their nest (which is on the ground), they pretend to be hurt to draw attention away from it. |
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| *I found them, I finally found them!* I knew there had to be eggs near my camper, because every time I walked near it-mama and papa killdeer went nuts! The killdeer lay their eggs on the ground and they are so well camouflaged it took me forever to find them. |
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| Oh, look-there's the first baby! (Still camouflaged!) (Notice how cute and fuzzy it is? Killdeer babies are precocial-which means they are relatively mature and can run around and forage soon after hatching-like chicks and ducklings. There's your bird lesson for the day!) |
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| Two! |
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| Two, almost three. |
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| Four! |
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| Look at that sweet face! (By this time, the other three had already taken off.) |
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| The last egg never hatched. This is the first time I've ever seen killdeer near my home. I'm so happy I got witness the hatching of these fascinating birds! |
5 comments:
Thanks for the killdeer lesson complete with great pictures! They are lovely little birds. We have some around here, but I've never seen their nests.
Mary
That's so cool! Thanks for the lesson and the sweet pics!
You are very welcome-Mary and Rainey!!! <3
You are becoming quite the scientist; I'm so proud of you! I remember when my Mom used to mow the grass, the killdeer would pretend to have a broken wing. It was fascinating to me too. Amazing creatures!! Great pictures!!
Dawnie-
I'll bet you already knew what precocial meant-you biology teacher you!
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