Killdeer

Killdeer laid their eggs in the stone driveway

A pair of Killdeer had laid their eggs in the stone driveway of our neighbour. Because he thought they were noisy, annoying birds, he ran over the eggs with his lawnmower... I heard the shrieking of the adult birds and went out onto my front lawn. We also have a stone driveway, double width, plenty of room for a bird to nest in one corner. I walked over to the corner of our driveway , bent down, and scraped around in the stones, all the while looking at hte birds, and talking softly. I said,"" here, come over here and lay your eggs, here's a nice corner where no one will bother you, no cars or people will step on you. Come on,"".. scrape scrape... . All this time the killdeer watched me closely, tipping their head as if to hear better.

I walked away, back to the house. Within 10 minutes they were both at the scape, and shortly after an egg was laid. No one could believe that I could talk to a bird, it seemd to understand, and did as it was suggested it do!.

The next morning, another egg appeared amongst the stony scrape. The female sitting tight, while the male hovered around, very upset when I went to check. The day after there were three eggs and the female and male both became extremely upset, screaming and pretending to have broken wings to lead us away from their eggs. She soon became quite accustomed to me, and would just walk slowly away, staying quietly while I looked at the eggs. And then there were four!. The last egg being laid a week after the others. No matter how many times we came in and out, driving or walking, the male continued protective, shrieking and carrying on, trying to fly at us, and lead us away. The female however, seemed to know she would come to no harm from me, allowing me to approach and talk softly to her. Tradesmen and visitors however, were another matter. Both birds became extremely agitated, so much so I worried about their hearts!.I put a big stone beside the nest to give some protection against winds and hot sun, and a stake with red tape on to warn people and cars away.

Then came the morning of lots of noise from the driveway. No one was in sight. I suspected a cat or predator was around. As I approached the nest, the female got up, and with great pride, showed me one just-hatched baby. The next two days, two more hatched, leaving one lone egg. The first baby was already out walking around with the male in attendance. After a day or two of laying around on top of the unhatched egg, two more finally got their legs working and ran in and out from under the female, picking up ants from the stones. Four more days passed with the female still sitting on the remaining egg. The male was now guarding three precocious youngsters running off in separate directions. I walked up to her as she lay in the very hot sun. "I'll give that egg one more day to hatch, it's been long enough, The others are running all over the place, and poor you, stuck here in the hot sun all alone."

The next morning, there was the skinny baby, lying on the hot stones. Mother took care to keep him covered with her wings, and any time the others felt scared or tired, they scampered back, crawled under her wings, and all stayed put for a while. We had a week of hot humid weather and often saw the mother squat down, and the 4 babies run under her for a few minutes to cool off.

One day as the four young were actively seeking food all over the street and neighbours gardens, it happend that a storm blew up. Torrential rains, high winds, lots of thunder and lightning. After rushing to close all open windows, I glanced out watchign the rain come down, flooding the roads, driveways and lawns. But, what is that lump at the end of the driveway, where the weeds grow by the roadway. Getting the binoculars, I saw the female, four little heads peeking out from her spread wings as she comforted them and tried to keep them dry. As I watched, the water rose rapidly, and I worried they would all drown. Would she desert the babies to save herself? Would the scared, wet babies have enough sense to run after her if she left for higher ground? Our car was only 10 feet away, would she try to run under it?

The poor things were now surrounded by water, only their heads showing above. The rain came down harder and harder, the winds blowing it sideways. It became so thick and dark it was impossible to see the huddling family .When the rain let up a bit, there was no sign of anything but water in the driveway. I feared they had been washed away or drowned.

Finally the rain stopped, and as summer weather does, out came the sun! What do we see now? , Mum and Dad, with four hungry, active babies, skurrying about, looking for food in the soggy lawns... All was well....

Strange birds these Killdeer. Extremely intelligent. Beautifully marked, their colours blending well among stoney grounds. Noisy, annoying and yes, scary as they shriek and threaten passerbys. The storm was yesterday. Today the garbage pick up truck come down the street, the young birds were called to the side of the road by the parent, who squatted down, opened her wings, while they all scurried down under her until the danger had passed.

How much easier it is when the babies can feed themselves at once.. These parents become babysitters rather than making hundreds of trips a day to the nest. Seemed to me these were more devoted parents rather than the thin frazzled robins trying to keep up with the appetites of four helpless nestlings.