Killdeer - wikipedia Killdeer A shorebird found in the Americas For other uses, see Killdeer ( disambiguation ). Killdeer Conservation status Least Concern ( IUCN 3.1 ) Scientific classification Kingdom : Animalia Phylum : Chordata Class : Aves Order : Charadriiformes Family : Charadriidae Genus : Charadrius Species : C. vociferus Binomial name Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 Breeding range Resident range Non-breeding range The killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) is a medium - sized plover. It is a noisy bird, whose English name comes from its distinctive kill deer cry. The adult has a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. The eyering is orange - red. The chicks are patterned almost identically with the adults, and are precocial ( able to move around immediately after hatching ). The killdeer often uses a `` broken - wing act '' to distract predators from the nest. It is named onomatopoeically after its call. Contents 1 Etymology and taxonomy 2 Description 3 Habitat and distribution 4 Behaviour 4.1 Breeding 4.2 Feeding 5 Predators 5.1 Responses to predators 6 Status 7 Gallery 8 References 9 External links Etymology and taxonomy The killdeer was first described as Charadrius vociferus by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. This was based on an account of it by Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, where he gave it the name of the `` chattering plover ''. The killdeer 's binomial name is Charadrius vociferus. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth - century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys ( kharadra, `` ravine '' ). The specific vociferus is Latin and comes from vox, `` cry '' and ferre, `` to bear ''. There are three subspecies of the killdeer, including the nominate : C. v. vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 -- The nominate subspecies, found in the US ( including southeastern Alaska ), southern Canada, Mexico, and very locally south to Panama. It winters to northwestern South America. C. v. ternominatus Bangs & Kennard, 1920 -- This subspecies is found on the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and Virgin Islands. C. v. peruvianus ( Chapman, 1920 ) -- This South American subspecies is found in west Ecuador, Peru, and extreme northwest Chile. The killdeer 's name comes from its frequently heard call. Description The killdeer is a relatively large plover, with adults ranging in length from 20 to 28 centimetres ( 7.9 to 11.0 in ) and having a wingspan between about 59 and 63 centimetres ( 23 and 25 in ). It is usually between 72 and 121 grams ( 2.5 and 4.3 oz ) in terms of weight. It has a short, thick, and dark bill, flesh - coloured legs, and a red eye ring. Its upperparts are mostly brown and fringed rufous, with its cap, back, and wings being the former colour. It has a white forehead and a white stripe behind the eye, and its lores and the upper borders to the white forehead are black. The killdeer also has a white collar that is black on its upper border. The female generally has a browner mask. The rest of the face is brown. The breast and belly are white, with the exception of two black breast bands ( although the female 's bands are usually more brown ). The rump is red, and the tail is mostly brown. The latter also has a black subterminal band, a white terminal band, and barred white feathers on the outer portion of the tail. In flight, a white wing stripe at the base of the flight feathers is visible. The juvenile is similar to the adult. The subspecies Charadrius vociferus ternominatus is smaller and more pale and grey than the nominate, and the subspecies C. v. peruvianus differs on the basis of its smaller size and more extensive rufous feather fringes. C. v. ternominatus Cuba C. v. ternominatus Cuba Habitat and Distribution The nominate subspecies of the killdeer is found in the US ( including southeastern Alaska ), southern Canada, and Mexico in addition to breeding very locally to south Panama. It is resident in the southern half of its breeding range. Migratory populations winter from the breeding range south to Central America, the West Indies, Colombia, Ecuador, and islands off Venezuela, leaving its breeding grounds after mid July, with a peak in migration from August to September. The subspecies Charadrius vociferus ternominatus is found in the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and Virgin Islands, where it is thought to be resident. C. v. peruvianus is resident to west Ecuador, Peru, and extreme northwestern Chile. During the non-breeding season the killdeer uses coastal wetland and beach habitat, as well as coastal fields. It prefers fields that have less recent precipitation. It almost exclusively forages in fields, especially those with short vegetation and cattle combined with short vegetation or standing water. When breeding, it has a home range of about 6 hectares ( 15 acres ). Those with nests more than 50 metres ( 160 ft ) away from water generally have larger home ranges. Behaviour These birds will frequently use a distraction display ( `` broken - wing act '' ) to distract predators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wings in a position that simulates an injury, flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators are then usually attracted to the seemingly easy prey. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, it moves closer and gets louder until it gets the attention of the predator. This is repeated until the predator is far from the nest, and the killdeer suddenly `` heals '' and flies away. Breeding Eggs in a nest on the ground Play media Parent protecting small chicks by performing a distraction display to draw attention to itself away from the nest The killdeer likely forms pairs on breeding grounds. Both males and females ( although the former more often than the latter ) advertise in flight with loud `` killdeer '' calls, and the former can advertise by standing in a high spot and making the same call. Ground chases occur when a killdeer has been approached multiple times by another killdeer. Males also advertise to females by scraping out a fake nest. To nest, the killdeer uses open fields or other flat areas with short vegetation ( usually below 1 centimetre ( 0.39 in ) tall ), including agricultural fields, and meadows. Nesting habitat is characterized as having enough nest materials to form a scrape but otherwise having little or no vegetation. The killdeer frequently nests near the site it nested the previous year. It is likely that the male usually returns to nest in the same area regardless of whether or not it retains the same mate. This does not seem to be true of the female, who does not nest in the same territory if it does not have the same mate. Nests are also sometimes located on rooftops. The nest itself is merely a shallow depression or bowl in the ground, fringed by some stones and blades of grass. It generally chooses to build with white nesting material over darker colours ; the function of this is suspected to either help keep the nest cool or to help conceal the nest. In a study of piping plovers, the former function was supported, as nests were 2 to 6 ° C ( 36 to 43 ° F ) cooler than the surrounding ground. The latter function also had some support, as the plovers generally chose pebbles closer in colour to the eggs, but, nests with higher contrast with the ground suffered more predation. When nesting on rooftops, the eggs may be placed on a flat roof, or in a nest of raised gravel, sometimes lined with white pebbles or pieces of seashells. The eggs of the killdeer are typically laid from mid March to early June in the southern portions of the range, and from mid April to mid July in the northern parts. In both cases, the breeding season itself extends to about August. In Puerto Rico, and possibility in other Caribbean islands, breeding occurs year round. The killdeer has a clutch of four to six eggs, buff to beige in colour, with brown markings and black speckles. It is about 38 by 27 millimetres ( 1.5 by 1.1 in ) in size. These eggs are laid at intervals of 24 to 48 hours. When these eggs are being laid, the energy expenditure of both sexes is at its highest ; the female needs to produce eggs, whereas the male needs to defend its territory. Both the female and male are closer to the nest site during egg laying and incubation, with the male generally being closer to the nest during all stages of breeding. This latter fact is likely due to the male 's increased investment in nest - site defense. Up to five replacement clutches can be laid, and there are occasionally two broods. The eggs are incubated for 22 to 28 days by both the male and the female, with the former typically incubating during the night. The time dedicated to incubation is related to temperature, with one study recording that killdeer incubated eggs 99 % of the time when the temperature was about 13 ° C ( 55 ° F ), 76 % of the time when it was around 26 ° C ( 79 ° F ), and 87 % of the time during temperatures of about 35 ° C ( 95 ° F ). When it is hot ( above at least 25 ° C ( 77 ° F ) ), incubation does not take the form of warming the eggs, but instead occurs through the cooling of eggs, generally through shading. The day after the young hatch, they are led by both parents out of the nest. The family then generally moves to a feeding territory with dense vegetation which the chicks are able to hide under when a predator is near. The chicks are raised, at least in single - brood pairs, by both parents, likely because of the high failure rate of nests and the need for both parents to be present to successfully raise the young. In two parents broods, the young are usually attended by only one parent, generally the female, until about two weeks of age, after which the non-attentive parent occasionally tends the young. Otherwise, the non-attentive parent is generally at least 23 metres ( 75 ft ) away from the chicks. Periods of attentiveness for each parent generally last about one to one hour thirty minutes. This time is mainly spent standing when the chicks are young, with the time dedicated to this decreasing as the chicks get older. When the young are below two weeks of age, the attending adult dedicates little time to foraging. The non-attentive adult defends the young most of the time when they chicks are less than a week old, but this task steadily shifts onto the attentive adult, until about three weeks of age, when the attending parent does almost all of the defense. One parent at a time generally broods the chicks, and does so frequently until they are two days old. They are also brooded, until about 15 days after hatching, during rain, and, until about 18 days after hatching, at night. The only time when the young are not in the presence of a parent is when the parents are responding to a predator or an aggressive conspecific, or when mating. There are sometimes one parent broods when a pair has two broods. This brood is watched over by the male, who is able to hatch the chicks on its own, unlike the female. In this case, the adult does not spend most of the time standing, and the time it did spend did not decrease as a function of age. Like attentive adults in two parent broods, the sole parent of a brood increases the time spent foraging as the chicks get older. The young fledge about 31 days after they hatch, and generally move to moister areas in valleys and on the banks of rivers. They may be cared for by their parents for up to 10 days after they fledge, and exceptionally 81 days after hatching. About 52 % to 63 % of nests fail to produce any fledged young, and about 53 % of eggs do not hatch. Feeding The killdeer feeds primarily on insects ( especially beetles and flies ), in addition to millipedes, worms, snails, spiders, and some seeds. It opportunistically takes tree frogs and dead minnows. It forages almost exclusively in fields ( no matter the tide ), especially those with cattle and short vegetation or standing water. Standing water alone does not usually have a significant effect on field choice, but when combined with cattle, it does. Viable disseminules can be recovered from killdeer feces, indicating that it is important in the transport of various aquatic organisms. The killdeer uses visual cues to find food. An example of this is `` foot - trembling '', where, when feeding in water, it stands on one foot and shakes the other in the water for about five seconds, and then pecks at any prey stirred up by it. When feeding in fields, it may follow ploughs to take earthworms disturbed to the surface. The female forages significantly more than male when it is breeding. Foraging by females peaks during pre-laying and laying itself, decreasing when incubation starts ( as there is little time for foraging ), and returning to high levels after. During the non-breeding season, it forages during the night, depending on the lunar cycle. When the moon is full, it spends more time foraging during the night and more time roosting during the day. Foraging during the night has benefits that include increased insect abundance and reduced predation. Predators Predators to the killdeer include herring gulls, common crows, raccoons, and striped skunks. Responses to predators Various methods of distracting predators are employed during the breeding season by parents. During egg - laying, the most common response to predators is to quietly leave the nest. When incubation starts, and as it progresses, the intensity of predator responses increases, peaking just after hatching. This is likely because it is worth more to protect the young at that stage, as they are more likely to survive to fledge. After hatching, though, the intensity of responses decreases, until a normal response is calling at a stand. This is because as the young age, they get more independent. Status The killdeer is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to be a least - concern species. This is due to its large range of about 26.3 million kilometres ( 16.3 mi ) and its large population, estimated by the IUCN to be about one million birds, although another estimate, in the Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive, gives about two million birds. Even though it has a declining population, it is not declining fast enough to be considered a vulnerable species. Gallery Charadrius vociferus call Bird call of the killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. Adult protecting its offspring in Minnesota Female on nest in Pennsylvania Juvenile in New Jersey Chick shortly after hatching, Minnesota Juveniles hiding under adult References ^ Jump up to : BirdLife International ( 2012 ). `` Charadrius vociferus ''. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013. Jump up ^ `` Killdeer ''. All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Jump up ^ Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper Jump up ^ Linnaeus, Carl ( 1758 ). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Secundum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, cum Characteribus, Differentiis, Synonymis, Locis ( in Latin ). 1 ( 10th ed. ). Stockholm, Sweden : ( Laurentii Salvii ). p. 150 -- via The Internet Archive. Jump up ^ Catesby, Mark ( 1731 ). The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands. 1. London. p. 71. ^ Jump up to : Wiersma, P. ; Kirwan, G.M. ; Boesman, P. ( 2018 ). del Hoyo, Josep ; Elliott, Andrew ; Sargatal, Jordi ; Christie, David A. ; de Juana, Eduardo, eds. `` Killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) ''. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Barcelona, Spain : Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 12 June 2018. ( Subscription required ( help ) ). Jump up ^ Jobling, James A ( 2010 ). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London : Christopher Helm. pp. 99, 404. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4081 - 2501 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Hauber, Mark E. ( 1 August 2014 ). The Book of Eggs : A Life - Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World 's Bird Species. Chicago : University of Chicago Press. p. 140. ISBN 978 - 0 - 226 - 05781 - 1. ^ Jump up to : `` Killdeer Charadrius vociferus ''. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. USGS. Retrieved 1 August 2018. ^ Jump up to : Jonathan K. Alderfer ; Paul Hess ( 2011 ). National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Birds of North America. National Geographic. p. 69. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4262 - 0720 - 4. ^ Jump up to : Johnsgard, P.A. ( 1981 ). The Plovers, Sandpipers and Snipes of the World. Lincoln, NE : University of Nebraska Press. Jump up ^ Ogden, L.J.E. ; S. Bittman ; D.B. Lank & F.C. Stevenson ( 2008 ). `` Factors influencing farmland habitat use by shorebirds wintering in the Fraser River Delta, Canada ''. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment : 252 -- 258. doi : 10.1016 / j. agee. 2007.10. 004. ^ Jump up to : Long, Linda L. ; Ralph, C. John ( 2001 ). `` Dynamics of habitat use by shorebirds in estuarine and agricultural habitats in northwestern California ''. The Wilson Bulletin. 113 ( 1 ) : 41 -- 52. doi : 10.1676 / 0043 - 5643 ( 2001 ) 113 ( 0041 : DOHUBS ) 2.0.CO ; 2. ISSN 0043 - 5643. ^ Jump up to : Plissner, Jonathan H. ; Oring, Lewis W. ; Haig, Susan M. ( 2000 ). `` Space use of killdeer at a Great Basin breeding area ''. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 64 ( 2 ) : 421. doi : 10.2307 / 3803240. ISSN 0022 - 541X. ^ Jump up to : Hiller, Ilo ( 2008 ). `` Killdeer ''. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved 2011 - 03 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Killdeer ''. Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2011 - 3 - 1. ^ Jump up to : Phillips, R.E. ( 1972 ). `` Sexual and agonistic behaviour in the killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) ''. Animal Behaviour. 20 ( 1 ) : 1 -- 9. doi : 10.1016 / S0003 - 3472 ( 72 ) 80166 - 0. ISSN 0003 - 3472. Jump up ^ Mundahl, John T. ( 1982 ). `` Role specialization in the parental and territorial behavior of the killdeer ''. The Wilson Bulletin. 94 ( 4 ) : 515 -- 530. ISSN 0043 - 5643. Jump up ^ DeGraaf, R.M. ; Rapole, J.H. ( 1995 ). Neotropical Migratory Birds : Natural History, Distribution and Population Change. Ithaca, NY, US : Comstock Publishing Associates. Jump up ^ Lenington, Sarah ( 1975 ). `` Mate fidelity and nesting site tenacity in the killdeer ''. The Auk. 92 ( 1 ) : 149 -- 151. doi : 10.2307 / 4084431. ISSN 0004 - 8038. Jump up ^ Kull, Jr., Robert C. ( 1977 ). `` Color selection of nesting material by killdeer ''. The Auk. 94 ( 3 ) : 602 -- 604. ISSN 0004 - 8038. Jump up ^ Mayer, Paul M. ; Smith, Levica M. ; Ford, Robert G. ; Watterson, Dustin C. ; McCutchen, Marshall D. ; Ryan, Mark R. ( 2009 ). `` Nest construction by a ground - nesting bird represents a potential trade - off between egg crypticity and thermoregulation ''. Oecologia. 159 ( 4 ) : 893 -- 901. doi : 10.1007 / s00442 - 008 - 1266 - 9. ISSN 0029 - 8549. Jump up ^ Fisk, Erma J. ( 1978 ). `` The growing use of roofs by nesting birds ''. Bird - Banding. 49 ( 2 ) : 134 -- 141. doi : 10.2307 / 4512343. ISSN 0006 - 3630. ^ Jump up to : Brunton, Dianne H. ( 1988 ). `` Sexual differences in reproductive effort : time - activity budgets of monogamous killdeer, Charadrius vociferus ''. Animal Behaviour. 36 ( 3 ) : 705 -- 717. doi : 10.1016 / S0003 - 3472 ( 88 ) 80153 - 2. ISSN 0003 - 3472. ^ Jump up to : Brunton, Dianne H. ( 1988 ). `` Energy expenditure in reproductive effort of male and female killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) ''. The Auk. 105 ( 3 ) : 553 -- 564. Jump up ^ Bergstrom, Peter W. ( 1989 ). `` Incubation temperatures of Wilson 's plovers and killdeers ''. The Condor. 91 ( 3 ) : 634. doi : 10.2307 / 1368114. ISSN 0010 - 5422. ^ Jump up to : Lenington, Sarah ( 1980 ). `` Bi-parental care in killdeer : An adaptive hypothesis ''. The Wilson Bulletin. 92 ( 1 ) : 8 -- 20. ^ Jump up to : Brunton, Dianne H. ( 1990 ). `` The effects of nesting stage, sex, and type of predator on parental defense by killdeer ( Charadrius vociferous ) : Testing models of avian parental defense ''. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 26 ( 3 ) : 181 -- 190. ISSN 0340 - 5443. Jump up ^ Proctor, Vernon W. ; Malone, Charles R. ; DeVlaming, Victor L. ( 1967 ). `` Dispersal of aquatic organisms : Viability of disseminules recovered from the intestinal tract of captive killdeer ''. Ecology. 48 ( 4 ) : 672 -- 676. doi : 10.2307 / 1936517. ISSN 0012 - 9658. ^ Jump up to : Eberhart - Phillips, Luke J. ( 2016 ). `` Dancing in the moonlight : evidence that killdeer foraging behaviour varies with the lunar cycle ''. Journal of Ornithology. 158 ( 1 ) : 253 -- 262. doi : 10.1007 / s10336 - 016 - 1389 - 4. ISSN 2193 - 7192. Jump up ^ Smith, Susan M. ( 1970 ). `` '' Foot - trembling '' feeding behavior by a killdeer ``. The Condor. 72 ( 2 ) : 245. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Killdeer. Wikispecies has information related to Charadrius vociferus Killdeer at Enature.com - enature.com `` Killdeer media ''. Internet Bird Collection. Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter Killdeer Fact Sheet Hinterland Who 's Who - produced by Environment Canada and Canadian Wildlife Federation Killdeer Bird Sound at Florida Museum of Natural History Killdeer photo gallery at VIREO ( Drexel University ) Taxon identifiers Wikidata : Q755737 Wikispecies : Charadrius vociferus ABA : killde ADW : Charadrius_vociferus ARKive : charadrius - vociferus BirdLife : 22693777 BTO : KILLD eBird : killde EoL : 1049356 Fauna Europaea : 96873 Fossilworks : 129786 GBIF : 2480320 IBC : killdeer - charadrius - vociferus iNaturalist : 4793 IRMNG : 10934850 ITIS : 176520 IUCN : 22693777 NBN : NBNSYS0000000324 NCBI : 50402 WoRMS : 159127 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killdeer&oldid=856509935 '' Categories : IUCN Red List least concern species Charadrius Birds of North America Birds of Ecuador Birds of Peru Birds described in 1758 Hidden categories : CS1 Latin - language sources ( la ) Pages containing links to subscription - only content Articles with short description Articles with ' species ' microformats Articles with hAudio microformats Articles containing video clips Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikispecies Brezhoneg Català Cebuano Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Diné bizaad Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Føroyskt Français Gaeilge Galego Íslenska Italiano עברית Magyar മലയാളം Nederlands Norsk Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Suomi Svenska Українська Tiếng Việt Winaray 23 more Edit links This page was last edited on 25 August 2018, at 18 : 57 ( UTC ). 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Question: what bird has a white ring around its neck
Answer: The killdeer