A common sight across much of North America, the Killdeer is full of surprises. Though it’s considered a shorebird, the species is often found far from the beach. And despite its modest stature, slightly bigger than a robin, it has a big voice that is impossible to miss even from a distance. Up close, the bird has a subtle beauty, with dark bands across its breast, a chestnut back, and striking rings of red around its eyes.
Indeed, there’s plenty to unpack about this bird. Found throughout the Lower 48 in the summer and present year-round in the southern half of the country, Killdeer are highly adaptable and thrive in a diverse range of settings. They also have a flair for the dramatic, putting on a show both when mating and threatened. Not to mention, Killdeer chicks are really, really cute. Okay, you get the idea. Read on to learn more fascinating Killdeer facts!
1.) The name Killdeer is bound to raise some eyebrows—but this species has nothing against Bambi. Instead, the name is an onomatopoeia that refers to the bird’s piercing call, a shrill kill-dee! that it shouts while in flight. In fact, you’ll often hear a Killdeer long before you see it noisily wheeling about the sky with its pointed wings.
2.) The Killdeer’s loud calls have inspired many of its names over the years. In the 18th century, naturalists referred to it as the Noisy Plover or the Chattering Plover. And its species name in Latin, formalized by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, is vociferus—which roughly translates to “shouting” or “yelling.”
3.) A Killdeer is a type of plover. More specifically, it is part of the “ringed plover” group, which includes stout, short-beaked shorebirds like Snowy and Piping Plover. The Killdeer is the largest member of this group in North America and can be distinguished from its cousins by the two wide bands of black across its breast. Other similar-looking species, like the Semipalmated Plover, only have one.
4.) Although they’re considered shorebirds, Killdeer aren’t solely found near water. In fact, they favor a wide range of open areas like agricultural fields, tidal flats, pastures, and grass lawns. As a result, Killdeer are often seen feeding and even nesting in habitats that are close to people, like golf courses, baseball fields, and children’s playgrounds—sometimes disrupting their human neighbors’ plans in the process.
5.) Invertebrates can make up more than 90 percent of a Killdeer’s diet. These birds love chowing down on everything from beetles and grasshoppers to earthworms and snails. Pay attention to a Killdeer while it’s foraging, as it moves in a pattern typical of plovers: The bird runs a few steps, stops abruptly, and tilts its head to look and listen for prey before seizing it with its bill. After eating, the bird quickly gets back on the move, looking for its next meal. Killdeer have been known to follow tractors to eat the stirred-up insects in their wake.
6.) To find a mate, Killdeer pairs engage in stunning displays. While on the ground, males and females will bow to each other with their tails fanned out, putting their rusty rears on full view. The duo then takes to the air, where both birds will hover, give a series of calls, and circle each other with slow wingbeats.
7.) A Killdeer nest is notoriously hard to spot. Known as a scrape, it’s essentially a shallow depression that’s lined with pebbles. To build this nest, males and females engage in a “scrape ceremony.” The male lowers his breast and shapes the ground into a divot. If the female accepts, she’ll approach and take his place on the scrape, while the male puffs up and calls loudly. These nests are often built on top of gravel, the perfect substrate to hide their speckled eggs. But this camouflage means Killdeer chicks tend to live on the edge, growing up in risky locales like roadsides or gravel roofs.
8.) Get too close to a nest, and a Killdeer parent may flex its acting chops by pretending to be an easy meal. The bird will flare out its wings at an awkward angle, give out quivering calls, and flash that rufous rump—faking a broken wing to lure predators like raccoons and coyotes away from its nest. To protect their young from large herbivores like cows and horses, Killdeer pull off a different stunt. They puff up and run at the animals, diverting them from stepping on the nest.
9.) Young Killdeer can withstand a lot. They’re precocial, meaning they’re able to start running around and feeding themselves within hours of hatching. For Killdeer that end up nesting on roofs, chicks have been seen to survive seven-story drops. You wouldn’t guess their toughness from looking at them, though: The dainty chicks appear like cotton balls atop two toothpicks—making them some of the most adorable chicks in the avian world.
10.) When it comes to migration, Killdeer are divided between travelers and homebodies. Some populations breed in Canada and the northern United States and travel south in the winter, while others spend the whole year in the southern parts of the country. Interestingly, the birds that do migrate end up skipping over the ones that stay put, traveling past the southern U.S. in favor of places like Mexico and Central America. This pattern, which scientists call “leapfrog migration,” can be observed in various other kinds of birds.
