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Killdeer
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae Genus: Charadrius Species: C. vociferus
Binomial name
Charadrius vociferus (Linnaeus, 1758)

The Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a medium-sized plover.

Adults have 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. They have an orange-red eyering. The chicks are patterned almost identically to the adults, and are precocial — able to move around right after hatching.

Their breeding habitat is open fields or lawns, often quite far from water, across most of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with isolated populations in Costa Rica and Peru. They nest on the ground in an open area with a clear line of sight, or on a gravel roof.

They are migratory in northern areas and winter as far south as northern South America. They are rare vagrants to western Europe, usually late in the year.

These birds forage for food in fields, mudflats, and shores, usually by sight. They mainly eat insects.

Four Killdeer eggs in their characteristic pattern.

Three Killdeer eggs in a nest close to a storm drain in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Killdeer chick hunting for food.

Their name comes from their frequently heard call. These birds will frequently use the "broken-wing act" to distract predators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators then think they have easy prey and are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, they will move closer and get louder until they get the attention of the predator.

Their ability to exploit a wide range of agricultural and semi-urban habitat has helped keep them common and widespread in their range.

• BirdLife International (2004). Charadrius vociferus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Killdeer

• Killdeer Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Killdeer Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Killdeer Charadrius vociferus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Killdeer videos on the Internet Bird Collection