The Tiniest Heartbeat

Thursday May 20 2010

Remember the killdeer nest with 4 eggs that I roped off from the horses? Ma or Pa Killdeer has been sitting on that nest every day (for about 24-28 days). Every day I've been checking on her, and then suddenly yesterday morning, she was gone. And the eggs were gone.

From the moment of hatching, killdeer babies are "precocial 2" - downy, open-eyed, mobile at birth, and capable of finding their own food while following their parent. So they had moved out, already out in the big world.

Darn, I missed the babies - until this afternoon when, about 40 yards away from the nest near the creek, a killdeer did its broken wing display, trying to distract my attention from where I was walking. I thought there must be babies around, and I walked ever so carefully forward - until I saw it.


It was so tiny and fragile and defenseless, about the size of my thumb - it took my breath away. It was standing, motionless, silent, helpless, completely vulnerable. I ran to get my camera, then ran back - and had a hard time finding it, even though it was at about the same place, now sitting in the dirt. I held my breath the whole few minutes I looked at it, fearing I'd blow it away or scare it or reveal it to a predator.

How on EARTH do these animals survive - indeed, they thrive around here - first, laying eggs on the ground any ol' where, where they have a great chance of getting stepped on, then the babies surviving when at this stage they can certainly not avoid predators?

Doubtless there were more baby killdeer around - but I left before the dogs came galloping after me, or some kestrel happened by.

It's that ol' Darwinism thing again - I guess it knows what it's doing.

Don't Tread On Me

Thursday April 29 2010

The horses had wandered into the back pen - somewhere they don't often go, even though the gate is open and there's a bale of hay in there. I was hanging out with them, watching them, petting one here and there, when I saw a killdeer streak across the ground, start its chittering distress call, and start its broken wing display to distract me from where I was walking - a sure sign she (or he) was on a nest.

I stopped and looked away from the bird at the ground, searching for eggs. Her display got louder and more wounded looking - she'd run at me, and when I'd look at her, she'd turn and flash her bright orange and white tail at me, and drag a wing and limp away.

After much scrutinizing of the ground, I spied her nest - 4 spotted eggs in a little indention on the ground!

On the ground, with 9 horses roaming about picking at slim blades of grass. At one point, looking at the closest horse, I lost the location of the nest briefly, because the eggs are so well camouflaged - and Sunny had all 4 legs on either side of the nest when I found it again.

I stood guard near the nest to keep the horses off it, and watched the killdeer. She was most worried about Jose, who was closest - she tried distracting him with her display. It worked at first, he stepped toward her to investigate, but went back to eating when she ran away and flashed her tail at him.

Mac and Smokey both were interested in the bird, thinking maybe she was a toy, and followed her for a few steps... but lost interest when she ran away. But it worked - she'd lured them away from her nest. She was a bit harried, with all these giant creatures about, not knowing which to worry about most.

We've worked around the killdeer at our endurance rides - one had a nest in the parking area that I roped off, and one had a nest right at the finish line (we moved the finish line for the bird!)

The male and female will incubate the eggs for 24-28 days.

I've gone and put up a little fence around the nest, so the horses won't tread on it.

Camouflage

Friday July 3 2009

Last Saturday, Ridecamp here was half full of rigs and people and horses and dogs for the Almosta Bennett Hills endurance ride. I was roaming about with my camera on the four-wheeler when I saw a killdeer run along the ground.

I looked to where she was running away from, and moved in that direction, and mama killdeer went lame, doing the broken wing display, trying to draw me toward her and away from... her nest with 4 eggs.

Look a little closer at the top photo, in the center: four kildeer eggs.



It took me a while to locate them, being well camouflaged in the rocks and gravel, sticks and grass; and meanwhile, mama killdeer was flopping and fluttering away, an injured bird in great distress.













To appease her, I backed away from the nest.

Which happened to be not 10 feet from a big horse trailer that had just missed it when it drove in and parked - rather an inconvenient location! But then, how could nesting in the open on the ground anywhere be convenient? It must work, because that's what they do, and there sure are a lot of killdeer around here. (A couple years ago, we discovered a killdeer nest right by our busy finish line - those killdeer went on to hatch and fledge).

I got a couple of fencing posts and roped off 2 sides of the nest so horses and rigs would keep clear. Horses and riders and dogs went about their business all weekend; mama killdeer went about her business, sitting on her nest.

In their courtship, the male killdeer will make loud calls and sham nest-scraping movements. The male builds the nest. (This one was merely a little scraped out depression, though the placement among the camouflage decor was great.) The male and female will share nest duties... but I have yet to see two birds around this nest - you'd think I'd see two of them at least once. Killdeer eat mostly insects, and with all the dang flies around here, mama probably doesn't even have to leave her nest to eat!

When the chicks hatch, they will be downy, open-eyed, mobile at birth, and will find their own food while following their parents. They should fledge in 25 days - fly competently - so hopefully I'll catch the hatch and get to keep an eye on the babies a while.

I rode Stormy close to her today (the killdeer will do the distress show for humans and dogs, I've noticed, but not for horses), a week later, and she's still sitting patiently on her eggs. She didn't bat a bird's eyelash at us.