Submitted from my archives for Bird Weekly
My husband suggested that the Killdeer mama who currently hangs out on our long rocky Elderwood driveway is the perfect Mother’s Day story. Kildeer lay their eggs in such precarious places that we can’t believe that they are not extinct. However, Google insists that they are common.
This mama or dad, they look alike, has been sitting in 100 degree heat all day to cool these four future killdeer. Her choice of nesting site is the reason we question the statistics on their abundance. Those rocks are our driveway.
She/he did the Killdeer feigning dance for me until the cat came over to investigate. I carted the cat safely away, and snapped these pictures one-handed as I left the poor stressed mother/father to get back to work sitting on the now-shaded eggs.
So congratulations on being our top demonstration of Mother’s Day dedication, Ms. Killdeer.
Sadly these eggs never grew into adult killdeer, but it wasn’t from Mama Killdeer’s lack of trying to protect them.
Amazing!
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That they aren’t extinct!
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That’s a bit risky!
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Brainless! 🤪
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Excellent! So good to see this! 🙂
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Glad you like it! When I first saw your topic, I thought I had nothing. Then I remembered the Killdeer. They put on quite a show.
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I’m so glad you did. And yes, they put on a show! So fun to watch. 🙂
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It is, and kind of sad because you know it is probably a futile effort. They did learn, though. They did not nest on the driveway after that.
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That’s too bad. I’m sure they nested somewhere close though. 🙂
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Adults showed up in our vacant acre all the time, so I know that some of them made it. 🙂 Who posted that adorable picture of the birds mourning their lost eggs? That’s an unforgettable picture.
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