Species Name: Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)

Length: 10.5 inches

Description: A large plover, and a medium-sized shorebird. Adults have a distinctive pair of bold black on white breast. Upper parts brownish; lower parts white. Legs yellow or yellow-orange. Black bill uniformly thin. Shows orange rump in flight. White white with black forehead, brown crown. White stripe begins above eye and extends towards rear. White collar. Elongated body held horizontal or with head erect. Juvenile birds have only one breast band.

Range: Breeds throughout most of North America. Winters along both US coasts and in southern half of US into Mexico.

Behavior: Found in a variety of habitats, from farm fields, meadows, airports, gravel parking lots, lawns, pond edges, mudflats, and ocean beaches. Loud kill-dee or dee-dee-dee calls distinctive and often heard before the bird is seen. Gives Òbroken wingÓ display to distract intruders (including people) from nest sites or young. Nests on ground and often in gravel. Often bob when agitated.

Related or Similar Species: The smaller Wilson's Plover has a single breast band and a longer heavier bill. The Semipalmated Plover is much smaller and more delicate, with a black tipped yellow-orange bill and a single breast band. Snowy and Piping Plovers are smaller still, and much paler. Mountain Plover, Black-bellied Plover, and the two golden plovers share the same preference for plowed fields but lack the distinctive breast bands.

Identification: Distinctive call and double breast bands make this an easy species to identify.

Advice on Finding and Photographing: Look for Killdeer on beaches and the edges of ponds, at sod farms, and on plowed fields in farm country. Killdeer often are a good indicator of spring as they move north with receding snow cover. Can be photographed from car window. Birds along beach may require low crawl to get close. Birds giving distraction display should be left alone as not to disturb nesting.

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Richard Ditch been looking at birds and taking their photographs since the early 1970's, when he caught the "birding bug" from a friend at work. He was very active as a birder when he lived in New Jersey (1970-1994), maintaining lists of all the birds he saw each year in the state and elsewhere. Rich was a volunteer and field trip leader at the Owl Haven Nature Center (part of the New Jersey Audubon Society) and was a member of the Board of Directors for many years, along with being a frequent contributor to their quarterly magazine and to Records of New Jersey Birds. After moving to Phoenix, AZ in 1994 as a result of a job change, he found the birds to be a lot different and went through a rapid period of learning new species and new forms of species East. Richard is also a very active Member of our PhotoMigrations community and is a regular contributor to our forums. Please feel free to email him and be sure to visit his website located at: Birds in Nature - Images of Wild Birds.