Killdeer

The Killdeer bird is a plover that technically falls under the shorebird group found in and around North America.

Killdeer typically lay their eggs on the ground, in a shallow depression surrounded by low vegetation. Add a few stones, perhaps, and that’s about it. Because of the color of its plumage, the adult attending the nest blends right in, so much so that you would be hard pressed see it, even if you knew it was there.

These birds are known for a distraction display termed as the “broken-wing act” just to divert predators and trespassers away from their nests. They would walk away from their nest area and spread their wings that would look like being broken just to make themselves look like injured. In this way, they would make the predators believe that, it would be easy to prey upon the wounded bird, and thus tricking them away from their nests. These birds often run around the ground in speed and would suddenly stop and look around, running on again. This behavior is mainly to look around for predators, or to startle their preys.