Take the bird nest location quiz!
Okay kids, let’s play a game today. You are a bird. You are about ready to lay eggs. In the above setting, the best spot to build your nest is…
A. Parking space
B. Bushes and underbrush
C. Small tree in parking lot
D. Larger trees beside woods
If you guessed B, C, or D…congratulations! You are well on your way to a safe and satisfying nesting experience. For those of you answering “parking space,” count yourself blessed to be a human. Next question…
Considering predators, car exhaust, and curious people, the ideal location for your nest in this scene is…
A. High up in the treetop
B. Somewhere in the middle of the tree
C. Down low in the thicker branches
D. On the ground in some mulch
If you answered A or B, way to go! Many happy and contented nestlings are in your near future. Those thinking C haven’t met our 7-year-old, pictured below. He would love to come and examine your nest site up close!
And, if you answered D…on the ground in some mulch, then you were thinking the same thing as this safety-conscious bird below.
Let’s look a little closer…
Beautiful bird, but what is it? A killdeer! They are actually shorebirds but often live far from the beach. And, to this bird’s credit, D was the right choice for it, because killdeer are ground-nesters. That’s the way God designed them, so it’s appropriate that this killdeer is, in fact, nesting in our church parking lot! Killdeer don’t even hide their nests because their eggs are so well camouflaged. If a predator comes, they fake a broken wing and lead the enemy away from the nest. Amazing!
This killdeer has been in our parking lot sitting on eggs now for at least two weeks. A friend of mine, Adam Johnson, is the one who discovered it and told me. His wife Ashleigh actually does a blog, and she has some pictures as well…one even shows what the eggs look like. Here’s a link to her site: Ashleigh’s blog post and to our church’s website: Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC. We’d love to have you come by for a visit one Sunday! Dave
P.S. Just discovering the blog? Click here for my previous entry about a conversation I had with our male bluebird and a neighborhood rabbit…
If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader or email.
Comments
Kildeer are one of my favorite childhood memories!! We have had them nest in the near-middle of our country driveway (half mile long) and have taken a short detour just to leave her as undisturbed as possible. It is aching to watch the mother act injured and try to lure danger from her nest–pure devotion. I have stopped to comment on this article, but am going right back to read more! Thanks for sharing (my son and I just decided to learn about birdcalls–any suggestions?) Thanks again…
I’ve heard of the killdeer before but that’s amazing–I didn’t realize they’d be potentially visiting our area here! Thanks for the heads up. Great photos!
I have never understood the Killdeer logic in nest location. It would seem to be associated with a very high mortality…eggs and chicks. Loved the guy in the tree!
That was a great find, Dave! And you’ll look forward to going to church for more than a sermon ;-) Don’t forget…just as soon as those babies hatch…they are ready to go – and will walk away from the nest…so don’t miss it! They are the cutest babies you EVER did see!
Cute post, Dave… The birds usually do find a good place to nest, don’t they????
Love the Kildeer. Beautiful bird!
My Bluebirds fledged sometime while we were in North Carolina. The nest is empty!!!!! I was hoping to see them fledge. Oh Well!!! I hope they return to do it again.
Betsy
Man, I totally love the Killdeer! You lucky person. Very good pictures, too. They are so clear! What camera do you use?
C, thanks for stopping by! Not sure where to direct you on bird calls…sounds fun, though!
Cindyzlogic, only using a rgular Canon digital with no extra lenses. It’s a Canon Powershot A620. For us, it’s been a great family camera.
We currently have a killdeer nesting in our vacant lot next door to our home in North Dakota. Incidently, not close to any shore. We have been working on trees, a sprinkler system, and killing weeds in preparation for seeding when we noticed the mother calling out and faking the broken wing. so precious to see her protect her young. I searched for quite awhile before I found 3 perfectly camoflauged grey and brown speckled eggs lying right in the dirt. We are leaving that quadrant of the yard undisturbed until her eggs hatch. It has been a week since I noticed them. How long before they hatch?
Kelly, probably still another week or two. Seemed like the kildeer eggs we saw took between 2-3 weeks to hatch (closer to three). So how’s the weather up in North Dakota? I’d love to visit that part of the country some day!
P.S. Just did some research and found the incubation period is 24-26 days. Also, within 24 hours after hatching, the young leave the nest with the parents.
We live in the Fort Worth, Texas area and have just watched a killdeer family hatch 3 of their 4 eggs. The “nest” was only feet from a roadway and I had serious doubts that they would be undisturbed long enough to hatch. But they did. It took almost 4 weeks (most websites I found said 24 to 28 days of those parents taking turns in the 100+ degree heat. Only two days after hatching, they are gone and all that is left is the one lonely unhatched egg.
We do have another “nest” a little further down the same road and we’re watching those 4 eggs and hope to see those chicks when they hatch too. Absolutely precious little babies.
Nona, how fun that you got to see them! They leave so quickly (as you know), so it’s a special treat…one that I’m sad I missed. Hope you get to see all four hatch this time! :-)
Subscribe to RSS
You’re so funny, Dave!
The Kildeer is a beautiful bird to me and maybe to you, but people that live very close to where they nest say they are a very noisy bird. I hope you get some photos of the babies when they are hatched, they are adorable and when they get afraid they run and hide under the parents. It’s so cute.
Great story and photos, Dave!