Amazing Killdeer; Dedicated Parents and Masters of Deception
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- Опубліковано 22 лют 2022
- Meet the Killdeer: A shorebird that lives much of its life far from the shore from remote deserts to gravel parking lots in shopping malls. It hides it's nests in plain sight and is a master of distraction. I have followed the lives of more than a dozen killdeer mating pairs over four years. Here I share my photography and what I've learned from the literature and my own observations of these wonderful birds. I talk about their mastery of distraction techniques to protect their nests, their parenting abilities and discuss the biology of birds that have dimorphic (different appearances) sexes vs birds, such as Killdeer in which the males and females look and act nearly the same. I hope this video will give you a greater appreciation for these wonderful birds while learning a bit of biology at the same time.
Photographs of killdeer can all be found here: www.beechnutphotography.com/K...
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Joel Duff (aka The Natural Historian) resources:
Blog: thenaturalhistorian.com
Twitter: / naturalhistoria
Facebook: / thenaturalhistorian
Photography "Portraits of Creation:" www.beechnutphotography.com/
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I found a baby killdeer on the ground, not moving, at a job site today and didn't know it was a killdeer until i took it to the nature center. They told me what it was, their nesting behavior, and that the babies could self feed. I took it back to where i found it and it immediately ran off into nearby bushes. I abducted a napping bird.
xfiles
At my school,every year around late spring,A kill deer sits at our jungle gym in the same spot.I like to sit nearby and protect it from the loud kids by quietly shooing the kids away.
Had a breeding pair in the parking lot of my office building. Watching their chicks grow up was such a rewarding experience. One of my favorite birds and I'm always on the look out for them. Seeing the momma bird stand up for the first time and seeing 2 tiny chicks run out from under her and speed across the parking lot is a cherished memory.
And speed they do!!!!
Thanks for making this. We have Killdeer that nest in the yard at my job. Their super fast tiny legs crack me up every time I see them running around.
e: I saw a nest with 1 egg today
I was so excited when I found your presentation. I've been walking a paved path around our community library for some time. I knew I was alarming a particular bird; the bird was screeching the entire time it swooped at me. It was starting to feel like a Hitchcock movie. I witnessed its wounded wing ruse, and I also noticed the traffic next to the path didn't phase the bird in the least--I was the culprit. Your video covered everything I had observed and taught me so much more. Thank you for sharing your photography and knowledge. I will be even more observant on my next walk.
Awesome and thanks for your replay. So glad you have been able to experience these wondering birds. Love the Hitchcock reference, I've had some close calls with them as well and had that same feeling.
I didn't think I was going to be very interested in killdeer, but your enthusiasm was contagious. :)
I live on a ranch in Idaho, with lots of gravel. Every year about first of April the Killdeer begin to show up, our roads on the ranch are all gravel, lots of nesting for my Killdeer. I travel my ranch on a 4 wheeler in a short amount of time the Killdeer get use to me and the 4 wheeler, I can stop at there nest and they don't leave, I can sit there for the longest time they are just use to me
Cool, thanks for sharing
I work at an oil refinery in Illinois, we have a bunch of these little guys every year because we have gravel everywhere. All of us love them and carefully watch to make sure we don't disturb nests
notice how the people who cut the grass. Kinda left that part around the nest alone. Awwwwww !!!!
That is what I just did today. Just found out about this bird today mowing the yard.
My favorite local birbs
Wow! I stumbled upon this video after searching for a resource to complete a bird journal with my son and quickly learned that it's Dr. Duff who made the video! You may (or may not) remember me from long ago during our years together at the University of Akron. I learned so much working in your lab! We truly do live in a small world.
Hi Laura, yes I do remember. Figured you were either that Laura Palmer or the twin peaks one:-) Wow that is so awesome. What a blast from the past. Thanks for commenting.
I really enjoyed the pictures and facts about killdeer. I never knew what they were called or anything about them until I had a nest in my rock garden bed in the front of my house. First one egg, then two then four. I wasn't sure if my neighbor also had a nest because they seem to go back and forth but after finding the four eggs, she was always on them and the mate would show up sometimes. I was so excited in anticipation of the chicks, had sent pics to my neighbor and friends. Then on mother's day, I see a chick, then later another, then realized all four. Today, they were hopping all over and I watched them try to get over the brick they had jumped down, but now going up back to Mama was challenging, but they did it. I hope they will all be safe. I warned my lawn guy and postponed my pest control Co too. Thank you for the information. I am honored that they chose my garden rocks and I am fascinated by this whole thing.
I always see them in flat fields, parks, school fields. They look so cute when they run on their little toothpick legs. When I was little I followed one acting injured because I wanted to help it, and then it just flew away no problem, I felt so betrayed
When conveying your point the subconscious mind records all the time
they are such cute selfless parents i love their little beeping
I was mowing and noticed this bird (who I have never really noticed before) doing the whole running away, broken wing, etc. So glad I noticed the nest of already hatched birds (4). Now I am just watching them making sure they are ok.
What a fascinating video! I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you
Fantastic presentation! Thank you so much
Amazing work.
Thanks for sharing so eloquently your vast knowledge of your subject. Subscribed.
Great video! We have Killdeer in our backyard and when I let our dogs out they chased the birds and the birds were chasing after them too. Now this explains what they were doing, distracting the dogs from the babies. I then saw 2 dogs sniffing at the ground and when I went to see what they were sniffing at, it was a baby and it was staying real still. Then my dog pick it up in its mouth! The bird must have moved cause then the dog dropped it. I thought the baby was injured. I put the dogs inside got gloves and picked up the baby to put by the parents. When I scooped it up and started to walk it towards the parents, the baby got up and walked right out of my hands and ran to the parents! I was so surprised it walked/ran away but this video explains it. We have river rock along the border of the yard and I think that's where they had their nest. We are in Visalia, California (Central Valley)
My mom has a nest in her driveway right now. That’s what made me look this up. Interesting
This is my all-time favorite bird.
Great video about adorable birds.
What a beautiful video. Thank you so much for making it!
Thank you. Had a lot of fund making it.
hi! the other day i was walking through a graveyard near my house in northwest georgia, and i heard squawking behind me. there was a bird all puffed up and standing on a nest of eggs!!! it was so cute and i wanted to stay there all day! my girlfriend and i took photos of it and looked it up when we got home. now here we are, going down the rabbit hole! thank you so much for your dedication to these amazing birds and teaching us so much about these little guys! i can really feel the passion you have for your career!!!
I'd never really encountered killdeer in my past until recently when I began working on a railroad. When they're nesting in the area, in a single day I see dozens and dozens of killdeer along the line. They love building nests in the track ballast (gravel) but I find it interesting that you say they don't mind your car unless you stick your head or an arm out the window. When our train rolls past their nest they get very vocal and theatrical. Just today I watched a killdeer "lead our train" down the track about 100 yards, flying, swooping, and landing ahead of us while voicing its calls and playing its acts. Certainly shows a lot of bravery and dedication when confronting something so massive in comparison to themselves! (Edit: on second thought, that killdeer's nest might have been between the rails, which might explain why it lead us so far, given that the "threat" wouldn't be clear until all the freight cars we were dragging had cleared past the nest)
There's been so many that I had to look online and learn more, and thankfully I came upon your video. I loved your insights, experiences, and wonderful photography!
Thanks for your comment. Love to hear more stories about their interaction with people and man-made objects. Fascinating how they interact with things.
We had a Killdeer make a nest in a small pile of mulch near our house this year. It was overlooking a large part of the yard and had a line of pine trees behind the nest.
Thank you so much. Very informative.
Thanks, I enjoyed putting that one together.
When building influence the main entity of imagination is to play the call of the killdeer as you explain the narration on your video and you have them hooked
Killdeer are my favorite birds (as of right now, at least) and I really loved this video! Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I aspire to be the weirdo making friends with killdeers in a median near a Lowe’s someday! 😂
Cool stuff man
So these are the ones that scream at me
Chased every summer as a child by killdeers lol
Our house always has 2-3 breeding pair each year and when I find a nest I make sure to put something bright near it so my family doesn’t run them over because they build there nests in our gravel driveway
My sister moved to IA about two months ago. She called today telling me about a bird that was acting hurt when she found 4 eggs. They live in s farmhouse where the owner has horses too. Someone came over to ride and when she parked she was just inches from the eggs. She took a video a little bit ago when the bird started running off “hurt”. When she didn’t back away fast enough the bird came at her so she went in.
They’re beautiful birds, it would make me nervous with them in the driveway.
FANTASTIC VIDEO ! Thank you !!
I have so many questions… you helped so much !
Just found 4 eggs in my backyard in a river rock garden yesterday. I’ve Left them alone but, today all of the eggs are gone ?? Will Mom & Dad move the eggs ? I looked around being careful not to step on anyone. I can’t find them anywhere. I plan to set up a chair to sit and watch to see if I can spot them. I live in Bakersfield California. What in the world are they doing here ?
🤔 you're absolutely right, not much construction in within the nest of the four spotted eggs in Kansas with the small slight Orange blotches to help replicate the background of the camouflage setting
However very peculiar I'm wondering, maybe if the rocks may play a part in conducting the heat from the ultraviolet rays of the Sun to help incubate the eggs
Praise Jesus for the amazing Killdeer.
Absolutely, one of His amazing creations.
They remind me of windup toys when they walk and make that di-di-di sound
I see a lot of killdeers in Texas lol
A boy came to me and pulled a baby killdeer from his pocket. I have it now and am wondering how to take care of him. His wings are not developed yet, just stubs. He calling out over and over. Any suggestions?
Killdeer the most amazing animals I've ever seen have the pleasure of having a mom dad a baby in a few eggs by me
Every picture of a killdeer shows a red circle around the eyes. I have here a bird with yellow what do you suppose is the difference age or sex or genetics?
A egg incubator is just enclosed to keep the moderated temperature of the climate control so if the temperature is already at the set incubation temperature the mama bird knows sometimes they have to get off of The nest to air the eggs out in order to keep from cooking the eggs inside the shell baking their chicks so those rocks do conduct heat in Kansas looks to be very sunny and I'm very quite sure the mom has gathered lots of clam shells debris and that may be the nesting in order to camouflage her eggs internally she may have learned from her mom 😆
These birds are all over the rail yard where i work, i always called them crackhead birds as they just run around and make noise. Never seen a nest now i see why, also never had them pull he broken wing act but a dove did it to me. I tried to sho him away cause he was flapping around on the tracks. Soon as we got Iike 30 feet away he flew away then on my way back i seen the nest on a locomotive.
Hi, Joel! I have a few questions and I hope you have the answers. :)
1. A pair of killdeer had 1 surviving baby and now the baby appears to be gone.I saw them all three this morning and then it was just mom/dad. Is it likely that the baby is gone? :(
2. They left the nest after the baby was born about 5 days ago but now appear to be back at the nest mating again. Is it likely the same pair? Would they mate again that soon and try again that soon at the same nest? Or would another killdeer pair reuse their nest? What is more likely?
3. Can Killdeer get pregnant that soon again?
Thanks for all your education. These birds are so fascinating to me.
Hi, excellent questions. Unfortunately they must have lost that last offspring. And yes, as soon as they know they have no offspring and its still late spring they will immediately try to raise new offspring. I don't think any killdeer would use another killdeers nest so I'm fairly certain you are seeing the same birds. The female was probably fertile even as she was taking care of the offspring as it happens often that they will need to try again and even possibly a third time.
@@DrJoelDuff Thank you, Joel. I am sad they lost the only remaining hatchling. It was just adorable seeing them together. They were such good parents. I hope the next set of offspring is more lucky. :)
Hi. Please help was my mind.
We have been watching and following a pair of killdeer in our yard. They made a nest in our rock garden on a hill. I have fallen in love with them. Their behaviors and relentless determination to their offspring is remarkable.
Finally yesterday we saw hatchlings but within hours a hawk took 2 babies. The killdeer did not stop crying and calling for their babies for hours. One parent was with the remaining two babies and the other was in the exact location where the hawk attack happened just calling and calling the missing babies for hours. I recently miscarried and my mama heart was crying with this mama/dad killdeer as it happened. Then fast forward to this morning and I saw the remaining two babies with the parents for about an hour and then they were gone. I have not seen them all day. They no longer visit the nest. And I don’t hear them any more. 😩Did they just move to a better location close by like maybe to a forest near by? Or did something happen to them? Will they be back to the nest? I need to know they are ok. 😢
I watched your entire video and you said they are often within 50 feet of the nest. Do they stay there now and no longer visit the nest after about 48 hours of hatching?
Thanks for the comment despite the sad report of the hawk:-( I should have said that the parents do take the offspring to better grounds if they feel the need. Sometime the nests are not near water so they need to move for that reason but I strongly suspect that with the hawk they are aware that the hawk will come back to the same spot so thy will look to move to another location. It is usually a grassy open area where they will continue to hide in plain sight.
@@DrJoelDuff We found them exactly like you said within 50 feet. My mama heart is happy. Thank you for the education and reassurance.
It really fooled me. I was going to try to rescue one. I really thought it was injured it always chases me and my dog.
Oyster shell more likley
such cute babies
The way you tell the difference between the female and the male bird family you must feel between their legs the space is wider for the hatching of the eggs on the females the males have a closer structure within the leg bones within the hatching area boys don't have hatching areas only the girls 😆🤔
I remember watching a homo erectus Homo sapiens Neanderthal video stemming from the primate
What's the adaptation came as the future progress for the primate they morphed and adapted for childbirth the women primates female could not have childbirth due to the close proximity of the pelvis bone structure
So then the narrator explained the adaptation for childbirth to become natural childbirth the primates had morphed several generations down the line the females began to have a wider pelvis and bone structure to give birth to children baby primates
Years ago I had a K5 Blazer 1974 convertible top completely fixed up rims paint drop lowered system on the suspension new exhaust new studs new calipers rotors brake lines everything was done I did it right here using different shots I have pictures of it still okay
I had a guy that told me Mr Clayton and his two brothers the Clayton they owned the shop they did all of my mechanic work back in the day I used to work 24 hours a day with two different crews residential contracting and framing home year round I remember turning over the board so that the snow will be on the opposite side and building my scaffold so I can complete the overhangs of the roof the fascia and the soffit sockets on the bottom you put the vents in so many put it away where the attic to breathe and the release that heat in the summertime and the fascia is the front where you put your rain gutters on your overhangs of your roof
Mr Clayton made a deal with me if I took all of my suspension out of the front of that K5 Blazer I was in my garage I disassembled everything with the air ratchets in the impact but then he came with his trailer from his shop over here next county over and he backed up and pulled the truck out with a floor jack because the front suspension was completely taken out and I had it on my jack stands on the frame OKAY
he had ducks in the back of his truck, and I've always been very inquisitive asking questions and they know how I am so I've always had lots of money with that framing company so people were really giddy when they came to visit me and I will pay them up front and extra and take care of everything they will always fix all kind of things and wouldn't charge me I didn't know anything I was on experience starting out just had a lot of money and just wasted it all but learned everything that I needed to know in order to continue going and keep my faith
Mr Clayton picked up one of those ducks in the back of his bed of his pickup he had several of them and he said Junior do you know how to tell a boy duck from a girl duck female from the male
I reply no sir
He picked one of those ducks up they were his pets he incubated them and raise them they come to him trying to eat and he put three fingers but between the legs of the first one he picked up and he said that's the female their leg structure is wider so that they can hatch their eggs
And then he picked up the second one and he only could fit two fingers between the legs of this duck and he said this is how you know the male ducks they're not as wide between the legs as the females are and that's how I know that fact this is been about 30 years ago
i listened to this dude for around three minutes. the only valuable thing he said was: inland bird, wird for the type. he also told his talking point then trailed off on a bunch of other crap like a leftist gun thief.