A couple of weeks ago, I was mowing a lawn that I've been mowing since spring. In one part, I noticed a couple of birds hanging out in the middle, staying near one spot. I got off the tractor and walked toward them, they of course skedaddled, but not too far. I looked closely where they seemed to stay closest to, and found the nest. It was just a palm-sized shallow place in the ground, lots of small pebbles. This portion of the lawn has a lot of exposed ground, very sandy soil. A pine thicket once stood here, and grass doesn't do as well as on the rest of the yard. There are no trees, nothing but grass within 75 -150 feet of the nest. The driveway is the closest thing to the nest, about 50 feet away.
I looked up the birds in a book, they were as I thought, killdeer. I can't get close by walking toward them, but if I'm on the tractor, I can get within a few feet, and they won't back off. I got these pictures today. It's cool, she will fan out her tail, drag a wing like she's hurt, and move away from the nest, hoping you'll follow her. If you get really close to the nest, she comes right up, doing her screeching call and trying to draw your attention away from the nest.
I have left a 50 foot radius buffer zone around the nest, letting the grass grow up, to help conceal the nest. You can get within 5 feet of it and never see the eggs, they blend in so well. After 3 weeks, the eggs still have not hatched. Killdeer chicks hatch and are able to follow the parent immediately and forage for insects, rather than be nest-bound and helpless like most other birds.
1st picture is the female on the nest, see if you can pick her out. 2nd picture is the nest and three eggs, and the 3rd and 4th pics are the female, (I suppose), but the male has the same markings. Some of the references say that some species of this bird, the female will lay her eggs and then abandon the nest to the male, who sits on the eggs, hatches them, and raises the chicks. The female goes off and mates with another male. I don't think this is one of those species. Killdeer are a variety of plover, which are small wading birds, although they may nest far from water, like these did.
I looked up the birds in a book, they were as I thought, killdeer. I can't get close by walking toward them, but if I'm on the tractor, I can get within a few feet, and they won't back off. I got these pictures today. It's cool, she will fan out her tail, drag a wing like she's hurt, and move away from the nest, hoping you'll follow her. If you get really close to the nest, she comes right up, doing her screeching call and trying to draw your attention away from the nest.
I have left a 50 foot radius buffer zone around the nest, letting the grass grow up, to help conceal the nest. You can get within 5 feet of it and never see the eggs, they blend in so well. After 3 weeks, the eggs still have not hatched. Killdeer chicks hatch and are able to follow the parent immediately and forage for insects, rather than be nest-bound and helpless like most other birds.
1st picture is the female on the nest, see if you can pick her out. 2nd picture is the nest and three eggs, and the 3rd and 4th pics are the female, (I suppose), but the male has the same markings. Some of the references say that some species of this bird, the female will lay her eggs and then abandon the nest to the male, who sits on the eggs, hatches them, and raises the chicks. The female goes off and mates with another male. I don't think this is one of those species. Killdeer are a variety of plover, which are small wading birds, although they may nest far from water, like these did.
