Bird Portrait - Killdeer is a photograph by Nikolyn McDonald which was uploaded on July 10th, 2020.
Bird Portrait - Killdeer
The killdeer, Charadrius vociferous, is a migratory plover native to the Americas. I photographed this one in eastern Nebraska in the United States.... more
Title
Bird Portrait - Killdeer
Artist
Nikolyn McDonald
Medium
Photograph
Description
The killdeer, Charadrius vociferous, is a migratory plover native to the Americas. I photographed this one in eastern Nebraska in the United States. Considered a shorebird, I’ve always seen the bird near water but seldom in it as here. That’s probably because it forages, breeds and nests away from the water. In fact, when researching I found that for feeding the killdeer strongly favors fields with short vegetation and often selects those with cattle because their grazing keeps the grass short; this one was actually at the edge of a “wallow” in a large field of bison in a nature preserve. The bird is brown with white breast and belly; it has two black breast bands. It has a white forehead, the upper edge of which is black. I know them best for their habit of faking an injury and noisily leading predators away from the nest during breeding season.
Uploaded
July 10th, 2020