And the Oscar for Best Fake Injury goes to: Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). These are not your typical shorebirds, as Killdeers can also be found in parking lots and golf courses. This is a very artistic bird. When a predator is threatening its nest, a Killdeer will fly away and land not too far, flapping one wing as if it were hurt. That is enough for the predator to think it’s got an easy meal. When the predator tries to get close, the Killdeer suddenly flies away.
Another common trick this “drama queen” exhibits is the well-known foot trembling. When hunting for insects on shorelines, it stops and stands on one leg. With the other foot, it vibrates, causing insects to move and making them an easy target. Unlike other birds, Killdeers often build their nests on the ground, in gravel, sand, or short grass. Their speckled eggs look like small stones, hiding them very well in plain sight.
I photographed this bird on a camping trip to Lake Somerville State Park in Texas. Here is a shot I captured in a parking lot at the Northeast Metro Park during one of my biking trips around town.
That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Bird of the Week, Lake Somerville SP, Northeast Metropolitan Park, Parks, Texas, and Wildlife. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.
For I.J. Khanewala’s Birds of the Week Invitation CXLIX.
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philosophy through photography
Nature’s own little drama star.
All that acting, no training and no awards😀
Lovely capture, and the story made the bird even more fun to watch, Egidio.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for your kind feedback.
philosophy through photography
Welcome, my friend.
Steve Schwartzman
This bird seems to have a strange name, given that a killdeer doesn’t kill deer. Dictionaries say the name imitates the bird’s call, at least as English speakers hear it.
Egidio Leitao
I also thought the same, Steve. To make it even stranger, I truly don’t hear the “kill deer” that websites list as this bird’s call.
Steve Schwartzman
I looked to see what the Portuguese word for killdeer is and found maçarico, which is also listed as the word for a blowtorch. It’s not clear to me how those two things resemble each other. Any idea?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ma%C3%A7arico
Egidio Leitao
That only thickens the plot. I have no idea how “maçarico” relates to the bird.
Steve Schwartzman
Maybe it takes a blowtorch to blast through the mystery of what the two things have in common.
Egidio Leitao
That remark cracked me up. Hilarious.
Tra Italia e Finlandia
Un vero attore. 😄😄 Grazie per la condivisione.
Egidio Leitao
Grazie per avermi strappato un sorriso con questo commento.
Toonsarah
A very handsome bird in addition to the acting skills!
Egidio Leitao
🙂 That is true about their acting skills. Thanks for writing.
solaner
Here we also have members of the Charadriidae family. Some of them share that behavior when the nest is possibly endangered by predators. It’s really funny to see that.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for writing.
shoreacres
I love killdeer. They’re quite common here, in both suburbs and country. I’ve never seen the ‘broken wing’ behavior, but occasionally the agitation of one suggests there’s a nest nearby. Have you seen the babies? They’re hilarious: active as soon as they’re out of the egg. To me, they look like golf balls running around, with their round, fluffy bodies and long legs.
Egidio Leitao
I have only seen adult Killdeer. The description I read about their babies sounds very cute. One site said they look like cotton balls. As you said, they are also auto-sufficient as soon as they are born.
I. J. Khanewala
Yes, that trick of pretending to be injured is interesting, and has been noticed in several species. For killdeer I wonder how well it works; a count showed that slightly more than half of its eggs are lost to predators.
Egidio Leitao
The eggs can also be destroyed by humans since they blend in well with gravel.
Anne Sandler
I’ve seen Killdeer in our local wetlands. Great captures.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Anne. They are pretty birds.
Wandering Dawgs
I agree with your choice for the Oscar for best fake injury! We were entertained by a Killdeer in an RV park in Concord, North Carolina. There was a nest near our campsite and mama was flapping her wings in the middle of the road to keep us away from the nest.
Egidio Leitao
Beth, I’d love to have seen that. I haven’t seen any of the tricks I described in my post. Thanks for writing.