Central California Bird: Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

My husband suggested that our driveway Killdeer mama is the perfect Mother’s Day story.  They 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.