The Courageous Killdeer Bird

“Ki-deah! Ki-deah!” You’ll hear this loud, piercing call before seeing the small, graceful bird flying above. The killdeer can be found all over North America from spring onward. Listen to the killdeer’s unusual call and learn about this odd bird’s famous “broken wing” display, nesting behaviors (what nest?!), and unusual habits.

Where Do Killdeer Live? Everywhere!

The Return of the Killdeer may not be Hollywood-sequel material. Still, for those who keep a close eye on their local baseball field, golf course, horse pasture, airport, suburban backyard, or even public parking lot, killdeer may be coming to a place near you! 

Once you can identify killdeer, you’ll find they’re a common sight in and around towns. Killdeer are about the size of robins, and like robins, they are often seen on the ground.

Graceful in flight and handsome in appearance, with a rusty-red tail and a series of black-and-white bands around the neck and head, the killdeer is often seen speed-walking a few short, shuffling steps over open ground and then stopping suddenly as if it’s had a thought. 

If its movements make you think it belongs at the beach, you’re not all wrong: The killdeer is a shorebird, part of a family that also includes dowitchers, godwits, black-bellied plovers, sandpipers, and other residents of our coasts and mudflats. But unlike many of its relatives, the killdeer breeds throughout the continent, often far from water. Killdeers are at home anywhere. Yes, the killdeer is a shorebird seemingly as comfortable away from water as by the ocean!

Why Is It Called a Killdeer?

No, these birds do not kill deer! They’re named after their call, which sounds a bit like “kill-deer.” (This is similar to the chickadee, which is also named after the sound of its call.)

The killdeer most often calls in this high, repetitive way when flying above, often just communicating with other birds; it is a very vocal species. Some folks think the call sounds sad or eerie. Some think it sounds like a leaky balloon! Rest assured that the screech does not necessarily mean killdeer are upset. They have a specific call for warnings.

See what you think. Check out this audio clip from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

No Normal Nest!

The killdeer doesn’t nest in a conventional way. Adult birds may scrape a shallow depression out in the open on gravelly, sandy, or otherwise disturbed ground. When it chooses a driveway, construction site, or farm field, interaction with humans is inevitable. In fact, the killdeer seems very tolerant of humans. Unlike most birds, when humans are too close by, the killdeer will often run away first rather than fly off. And this leads to one of the killdeer’s most distinctive behaviors.

The Broken Wing Display

Approached by a person, a killdeer will often startle up from its eggs, tilt itself sideways, letting one wing hang out as though broken, and limp away most pitifully. (For one of many home videos of the act, try this.) Yes, it’s faking an injury! The display serves as a marvelous distraction from the eggs, which are themselves ingeniously camouflaged with black-and-white speckling. Often, it can be difficult to pick them out from their pebbly background, even from only a few feet away.

Amazingly, the killdeer seems to discern different threats to its nest and tailors its response accordingly. While the impressive acting of the broken-wing display is useful to lure people, dogs, and other predators away from the eggs, the bird tries other maneuvers to keep the eggs from accidental trampling by hoofed animals. Arthur Cleveland Bent, in his Life Histories of North American Birds, recorded the following anecdotes:

Howard Lacey (1911) noticed that a flock of driven goats divided. “I walked up to the place expecting to find a rattlesnake and found instead a killdeer standing over her eggs with up-spread wings and scolding vigorously.” Norman Criddle (1908) wrote, “If the danger came from a cow or horse, the tactics were changed, and the birds with both wings and feathers spread out would run into the animal’s face, and so by startling it drive the intruder away.”

If you startle a killdeer near your home this spring, and you think it may be nesting, take a few minutes to determine the exact location of the eggs. Back away and allow the incubating mother (or father) to return to the eggs. Later, you can mark the spot with a small flag to avoid disturbing it. The eggs take less than a month to hatch, and as soon as they do, the parents lead the chicks to a more protected area.

Even close to human activity, the killdeer can raise two broods of three to four chicks each summer. The sight of a newly hatched killdeer—a cotton ball perched on little ostrich-like legs that almost immediately can run at great speed—will warm even the wintry heart. 

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