Killdeer…by Brad Marks

Sitting here killing time one keystroke after another. Now in the midst of the annual “digital clean-up” process and it is mind numbing. Part of this is making the final push to cross the finish line of the PC migration marathon. Some of it is due to massive procrastination last year (okay, maybe last TWO years) and need to get the birding folders/spreadsheets/trackers etc. updated. Then there is the standard annual rollover resets of the blog post backups and general archiving that needs to be done to keep my OCD from raging out of control (and NOBODY wants that). I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, I need to go back to the corporate grind in order to get all my free time back! The good news is I think my North American Bird List folder (link here) is updated. That is my running gallery for the best shots of every bird on the list in case a client wants a specific species or if I want to author something someday. Even updated the left navbar with the latest count – 421 species! While I slash through minutes like Scooby through snacks, going to turn it over to Brad to bring you a North Carolina “killing” of a different sorts.

Take it away Brad…

There’s something about being warm during the winter months.  Jan and I live in the middle of Illinois, so February is usually a heavy flannel month.  Jan suggested we head southeast for a week to escape a bit of winter (really didn’t need much arm twisting).  We also wanted to see what we could see in a new part of the country for us.

Jan and I spent a week at Myrtle Beach, SC last winter.  During one of our “free” days on the trip (they are all “free” when you are retired) we headed to North Carolina since it was just up the road a piece from where we were staying.  The locals all said to go to a preserve a mile or two across the state line.  Our GPS was a bit confused for a while, taking us down unpaved roads to an empty lot at the edge of the water.  This can’t be right.  We stopped in a parking lot for a few minutes and picked a spot (on an actual map) that might actually get us to the coast, without having to stop to ask for directions.  Our new destination was Sunset Beach. 

After driving across the long and tall causeway bridge, we arrived in a small community of summer cottages on a narrow spit of land just a bit offshore in the Atlantic called Sunset Beach.  I’m not saying it was a ghost town, but there were very few cars around, and even fewer moving about.  Once I found the parking lot near the beach, I readied the cameras.  Before I closed the hatch on my car, there was some movement in the sparse foliage behind me.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

Hit the jump to read more about Brad (and Jan’s) adventure.

I started taking photos.  This bird was wary.  It wasn’t holding still very long in any one place.  I thought I recognized it from when I was younger.  (Imagine a wavy/spooky effects transition here for the proper flashback effect.)  Across the street from where I grew up there was an empty lot.  In the lot, there was a nest of small speckled eggs right on the ground amongst the weeds.  I thought that was very brave considering the neighborhood was full of 9- and 10-year-olds just looking to get into summer trouble.  The nest happened to stay untouched all summer, and a few small hatchlings made themselves known.  The parents would chase us away with their warning call, and it sounded a lot like their name:  killdeer. (OK, now a somewhat fuzzy transition back to the current time.)

That’s precisely what was watching me from the small lot next to the parking lot on Sunset Beach:  a Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus).  Normally, “vociferus” describes them very well — calling vehemently or clamorously.  When I was younger, you could hear them calling “kill-deer kill-deer” nearly continuously.  This one was silent, so Merlin was no help.  I moved to the rope at the edge of the pavement, about 15 feet behind my car.  I stayed on my side of the rope to give the bird some space.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

I couldn’t tell at the time, but the eyes have a dark pupil with a very bright orange ring around the eye.  Plus, there’s that distinctive double necklace.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

Near the ocean, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to tell this bird from the numerous small shorebirds we expected to encounter.  At a quick glance, plovers look very much like a Killdeer.  The Wilson’s and the Semipalmated plovers have similar coloring.  But the Killdeer is the only one of this bunch with a double necklace of nearly black feathers.  They also tend not to socialize with other shorebirds, a bit aloof if you ask me.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

As I mentioned earlier, they nest right on the ground, often in short grass or open areas.  A mated pair will raise 4-6 eggs, sometimes up to three broods per year.  Incubation takes 22-28 days.  As soon as the chicks’ feathers are dry, they start walking out of the nest.  The chicks are some of the cutest little birds you will ever see.  Sorry, I don’t have any youngling photos.   A Killdeer parent will fake a broken wing to lure predators from the nest.  Killdeer chicks start life with only one black breast band.  Sometime during the awkward teenage years, the second black band appears as they enter adulthood.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

Though Killdeer populations are declining very slowly across North America (except around the Great Lakes when they are increasing), they still insist on nesting close to humans, their greatest natural threat.  The few we saw did not seem afraid of us at all.  An adult Killdeer can live up to 10 years in the wild.

Killdeer can be found throughout North America and a little bit into the northern part of South America.  We sometimes see them on country roads near farm fields in central Illinois.  I’m sure there are some near Intrigued HQ right now.

Killdeer by Brad Marks

Well, apparently that’s the end of my time photographing this bird.

Thank you for reading.  If you want to see more Killdeer photos, please visit here.

Credits:

Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing.  Thanks to Jan for some of the photos in this article. 

42 thoughts on “Killdeer…by Brad Marks”

  1. I’m still grinding at the corporate wheels. People ask when I’m going to retire. I answer “Retire? No! And Hell no! I want to keep all my free time!” Good luck with the data clean-up and PC merger.

    Cute bird. Amazing to think it could kill a deer. Beautiful photos by Brad and Jan.

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    1. Thanks Tim. I was surprised to see it so close to the parking lot. I think all of the deer locally are pretty safe from this little one.

      Even though I’ve “retired” from my primary income source (same one Brian had), I have less free time than before. I don’t plan to stop doing stuff, I just get to do more stuff that I want to do. I’m through working for someone else, except maybe Wildlife Intrigued. Still hoping for the Department Head role someday, though Sr. Photographer and Writer is a nice role to have. The compensation package is second to none.

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    2. Hahahaha – you got that right! Although I have yet to regret my decision beyond the donut meeting days – then I remember the meeting part of that and that is when I go with the Hell No! Slowly trudging through the migration – got through getting all the Halloween 3D printing software moved over, so now just two more main pillars to transfer.

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          1. Finding the LR Catalog and making sure the paths were unchanged to all of the photos were the biggest challenges of an LR migration to a new PC. Once it was all working on the new PC, I did a full backup . . . again.

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            1. Fingers crossed that is all it takes – also going to backup my catalog as I know the lastest version I installed on the new one will alter it and last time it did that there was no going back.

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            3. All is good, port went well and matching the external drive letters worked perfectly. Also noticed it makes a copy for the LR catalog upgrade so it is preserved in case I need to go back (although I made another manual copy myself first).

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    1. Thank you B. The Killdeer was very tolerant so I took as many photos as it would let me. The real photo was me hanging on the rope at the edge of the parking area holding onto my camera photographing the Killdeer. Luckily, those photos didn’t survive the editing process.

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  3. Great photo series!

    We’re lucky to have Killdeer all year around. We often refer to it as the shorebird of the pasture, ’cause that’s where they nest here in the center of the state.

    No matter where they’re found, hard to miss that call.

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    1. I agree, it’s a very distinctive call. Almost as much as the red-winged blackbird from when I was a little kid. Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. Yep, we have them down here in the Houston area, as well. They seem to have no fear. I found a nest in the gravel parking lot at a plant nursery several years ago. Pointed it out to the owners, and by the next weekend, they had erected traffic cones to protect the nest from the tires of roving vehicles.

    I don’t know what dictates their eye-ring color; I’ve seen both orange and bright red eye-rings. Have yet to capture them in flight, or in a nesting or mating display… which means I’m not working hard enough… they are all around me!

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    1. I was visiting Sweetwater in Gainesville last Spring and they had an area coned off for a Killdeer mother that was sitting on eggs in the middle of the gravel path. Two young adult women walked by and asked me why the caution tape was there – pointed out the bird in the middle and they were absolutely surprised they didn’t notice it. Then one asked “Why do that do that?” My pat response – “They aren’t exactly the most intelligent creatures”. Granted their eggs look exactly like gravel, but still ha.

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    2. Thanks Sam. Not sure why the eye-ring coloring, mating age perhaps? I’ve not been able to capture them in flight either. Usually they are scurrying along the ground, like a roadrunner. If you do catch one in flight, I expect a story. 🙂

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    1. Thanks very much. Brian always teaches to get one in the tin first, then work on the reference photos (side, tail, head, back, etc.). This one posed right off the bat for me. They are all over where I live, but I’m usually driving when I see them along the road. Safety first — no photos while driving.

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          1. Yes, I agree! However, a couple days ago I flushed a bald eagle from the ground about ten feet away. It had a HUGE trout. It was like the part of my brain that says, “Take picture NOW!” switched off. Maybe next time… 😊

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    1. I am completely ported over to the new laptop now – I am sure something will pop up, but I still have the old one handy if it does – absolutely hate migrating to a new platform … and I am/was in the IT business.

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