Acting Killdeer

Gallery: AvianPosted August 7, 2012165 views5 comments

This Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is performing its characteristic broken wing act. The intent is to lure a perceived predator away from the nest (a shallow depression in the ground). The bird would run ahead of me and then perform its act as shown in the photo and call plaintively and loudly ("vociferus").

As I got closer, it would move further and then continue its act.

It always kept me in sight, though it tried to do so unobtrusively, and always turned its back to me. No nice, photogenic head tilt here!

Eventually, probably when it judged that I was far away from the nest, it flew off.

I left the area being very careful where I placed my feet. I never saw the nest.

A short while later, I sat in the shade on a small hill overlooking the nesting area. There was an American Crow patrolling the grounds. It looked to me like it was on a search mission. The Killdeer were performing their broken wing act, and soon there was a third Killdeer joining in. Then, perhaps annoyed by all that acting and noise, the crow took a short flight to scare off the Killdeer. These took off to a safer distance and continued their act. I do not think that the crow found the nest.

Canon 7D, Sigma 150-500 at 500 mm, ISO 400, f/11, 1/200 sec, HH. PP in LR4 and cropped to 51 %.

Thanks for looking. C & Cs are appreciated. Roger.

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on August 7, 2012 at 7:39 PM

Roger,
This is a very good capture, the detail is excellent, the water adds a lot. Thanks for the insight on the broken wing act.

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on August 8, 2012 at 8:04 AM

Great behavioral image Roger, excellent supporting info!

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on August 8, 2012 at 2:44 PM

Interesting image of a Killdeer, Roger. I like the pose and the water bg, and you did manage to get some eye. I also appreciate you painting such a detailed picture of the action. I'm interested in the third bird participating-not something I would have expected unless it too has a nest in the immediate vicinity. Makes me wonder if they have a cooperative breeding strategy.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Karen Kane on August 8, 2012 at 6:19 PM

Hi Roger,

Nice capture of a distinct behaviour - sounds like you had a good day. Sometimes I get so engrossed with watching these rituals, I forget to take the photo.

On the one-hand, it's too bad he never faced you (but you did catch the eye!!), on the other-hand, that would be contrary to the goal of trying to draw you away from the nest.

Cheers

Registered on August 4, 2012, 66 Posts, 726 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on August 8, 2012 at 8:04 PM

Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated.

I was also astonished that a third Killdeer would show up and participate. This is the first time I saw more than two (although, conceivably, even two could belong to different nests). The area is a mudflat covered with vegetation. It looks like a good nesting area. I did not really check it out for nests as I was concerned I might step on one, but I would assume that there are more nests.

This seems to be as much eye contact the birds make when they are performing the broken wing act. They pretend that they don't know that you are there. When the wing suddenly "heals" and the bird flies off, there are good opportunities for a BIF shot, however I do not yet have a good BIF short against a clean BG.

Thanks all for looking.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments