Killdeer Nest

Can you see four chicks in the nest?

Steve took this photo on May 15 of last year. We had seen an adult killdeer running around the pasture and when we got to one area, she ran away faking a broken wing, as killdeers will do when protecting a nest. We went in the opposite direction she was leading and eventually found a well-camouflaged nest on the ground.

At first it had only brown speckled eggs. We fenced off the area so the horses wouldn't step on them. A week or so later, the eggs hatched. The chicks stayed in the nest only a couple of days. (According to Wikipedia, the eggs have more nourishment than most bird species, allowing the chicks to hatch later, at a stage of development similar to 2 weeks old in other birds. This allows them to leave the nest quickly and begin foraging for themselves.)

We saw the chicks running around the field for weeks afterward. The babies grew quickly and were soon almost indistinguishable in size from the parents.

To see more cute camera critters, click here.