Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

I went out to Albert Head Lagoon a little while ago to see what kinds of birds were there - it's bird sanctuary. However, aside from a few distant ducks and swans the only birds I saw were some Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). I've posted photos of Killdeer before and mentioned the deception they practice when their nests or chicks are threatened. I've learned recently that this behavior is not unique to Killdeer but is shared by some other ground-nesting birds. How such behavior developed is not known. Here is what it says in my "Birder's Handbook" (Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye 1988, Page 115):

There is little doubt that effectively leading a predator away would be strongly favored by natural selection but how these stylized antics evolved remains controversial among behaviorists. Some conclude that distraction displays are a product of the conflicting desires of the parent to approach the predator aggressively, to return to the nest, and to retreat. Others suggest that they evolved directly as a predator defense, with more stylized sequences found in species that have had longer association with heavy predation.

The more I find out about birds the more I realize how much more there is to learn and how much yet remains to be discovered.

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

I went out to Albert Head Lagoon to do some birdwatching on Canada Day and spent a couple of hours watching a group of Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). I think it was some parents and fledgelings. Above is a mature adult. Killdeer are a species of Plover and generally only visit this far north in the summer. Wise birds that they are, they spend the winter in Central and South America. This is one of the first birds I remember learning to recognize and name and I think it is because of their distinctive behaviour when disturbed during nesting season. If one approaches their nest too closely the adult bird will leave the nest and act as if wounded, faking a broken wing and hobbling and flopping about while uttering pitiful cries. As a child I remember being very impressed with this cunning strategy to distract possible predators - it made me realize that animals too have emotions and intelligence.

---

Happy Fourth of July to JoJo and all of our other friends south of the border!

Fuzzy Birds

Continuing my exploration of Metchosin I went last week to Albert Head Lagoon and was alternately excited and depressed by the bird in the above photo. He was one of a group of 4 or 5 similar small birds running around in the muck at the edge of the lagoon. He looked unusual to me and I was happy to add a new species to my list. At the same time I was depressed because I couldn't seem to get a clear photo of this bird. Even when they were standing still they seemed fuzzy. It wasn't until I got home and was able to look at the photos at higher resolution that I realized what I had seen. These birds are fuzzy because they are still wearing their chick fluff. These fuzzy little birds were young Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). Standing guard a little back from the edge of the lagoon was a larger, trimmer Killdeer, most likely the mother, still watching over her chicks (below).

Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

While I was out at Esquimalt Lagoon the other day I was happy to see a very old friend, the Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). I say old friend because I remember someone explaining to me when I was very small that the limping, wing-dragging bird I was following was perpetrating a ruse, that it was not wounded at all but was pretending to be in order to lure me away from its eggs or young ones. I think that was the first time I realized that animals too had intelligence and feelings. Of course this behaviour might be genetically programmed but even then it's a tribute to the complexity and functionality of evolution.