Although the Killdeer is a shorebird, many breeding pairs prefer vacant lots, golf courses, meadows or graveled areas for their nesting sites. The nests may often be located near human habitation, but the eggs are normally well camouflaged. If the nest is approached too closely, one of the parents will feign injury - dragging a wing and possibly limping along on one foot. Once the danger has passed, the bird instantly 'recovers' and flies off.

Length: 20.3 - 26.6 cm

Physical characteristics: A lanky bird with long legs, wings, and a very long tail, the Killdeer has a brown cap, face, back, wings and tail. It has a white forehead, a red eye ring, a white stripe behind the eye and a white collar. The breast and belly are completely white except for two distinct black breast bands. Sexes are similar.

Voice: Song is a repeated high pitched whistle, often followed by a rapid series of descending notes.

Breeding habitat:
The Killdeer prefers open spaces, such as fields, meadows, pastures and dry uplands, and occasionally shorelines. It may also nest on golf courses, gravel roads or gravel rooftops.

Mating system:
Monogamous; two broods may be produced if the first nesting is early in the season.

Nest:
Both male and female take part in nest building. The nest is usually located on the ground, in an open spot, with a good view of the surrounding area. It is a narrow scrape, hollowed out by the male; it can be lined with pebbles, grass stems or wood chips, or be unlined.

Eggs:
The female lays 3 - 5 buff eggs, marked with blackish-brown, and occasionally wreathed. The eggs are neatly arranged in a circle and blend in well with the surroundings. 37mm (1.4'').

Chick development:
Both parents incubate the eggs for 23 - 25 days. They will also soak their breasts in water to cool the eggs if the weather is too hot. The chicks are precocial when hatched. They can leave the nest within a few hours and can feed themselves in a short time. The parents still brood the young and guard them from predators. Either parent may perform a distraction display, feigning injury (typically a broken wing) to lure a predator away. The chicks fledge at about 25 days of age.

Diet:
The Killdeer diet includes a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates. Weed seeds make up a very small percentage of its diet. It feeds on the ground, running short distances, then stopping and poking at the ground with its long bill.

Breeding: The Killdeer is common over most of southern Canada, throughout the continental United States and into Mexico.

Winter: This bird is a short-distance migrant, with mostly the northern populations being migratory. Outside of the United States, the winter range includes the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America.

In Park: The Killdeer is an uncommon year-round resident bird species in the Park. Since Killdeer prefer open spaces, the Cades Cove is the only area in the park that this bird is likely to be seen. In a survey of breeding birds in the park, performed from 1996-1999, only a single individual Killdeer was detected. Many Killdeer may show up in Cades Cove and on fields around Tremont after the first big snow at high elevations but it is not known where these birds come from (K. Voorhis, pers. com.).

This species was once hunted in great numbers, which significantly reduced its population. And more recently its habit of nesting near human habitation can cause nest loss - because of development, or due to mowing, plowing or driving on its nesting areas. Despite this, the Killdeer is considered fairly common, and is not listed as threatened or endangered.

References:

Bent, A. C. and Collaborators. 1996 - 2002. Killdeer, In Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds, ed., Patricia Query Newforth.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117: 847-858.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 119: 897-906.

Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds: the Species of Birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands, 7th ed

Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The Birder's Handbook: a Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. Simon and Schuster, Inc., New York.

Elphick, C., J. B. Dunning, Jr., and D. A. Sibley, eds. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press.