"Killdeer, killdeer, killdeer," shrieks the bigger of the two birds from the inland side of the Barview Jetty on the Oregon Coast. Though we are hiking above them on the seawall, both birds run toward us along the shore, faking broken wings, and when we show no sign of stopping, take flight in unison over the still water below.
Members of the Plover family, Killdeer nest on open ground, often on gravel. They use slight depressions in the rock to mate and lay eggs. Their nests blend perfectly into the background and their speckled eggs look like stones. As a matter of fact, the pair likely had several nests, built to confuse predators, but they use only one for laying of eggs.
Members of the Plover family, Killdeer nest on open ground, often on gravel. They use slight depressions in the rock to mate and lay eggs. Their nests blend perfectly into the background and their speckled eggs look like stones. As a matter of fact, the pair likely had several nests, built to confuse predators, but they use only one for laying of eggs.
Not surprisingly, baby Killdeer are "precocial" (which means ripened beforehand). They literally hatch and start running.
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