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Killdeer Drama / Junior Field Guide

Drama in the Grass

A pocket guide to the killdeer who nests on the ground.

Meet the bird

A small, loud, brown-and-white bird

A killdeer stands on open ground in sharp side profile. Brown back, white belly, two bold black bands across the chest, bright pink legs.

A killdeer is a small brown-and-white bird, about the size of a robin.

It has two black stripes across its chest, like a referee's shirt. Long pink legs. A bright red ring around its eye if you can get close enough to see it.

It eats bugs. It runs in fast little bursts, stops, then runs again. Like it is late for something.

The "kill-deer!" call

It is named for the sound it makes

Kill-deer! Kill-deer! When it is scared. When it is mad. When you walk too close.

Press play. That is a real killdeer.

The fake-out trick

The bird with a magic trick

When a fox or a cat comes near the nest, the parent killdeer does something amazing.

It pretends one wing is broken. It limps. It cries. It drags itself across the ground like the easiest meal the fox has ever seen.

The fox forgets about the eggs. It chases the "hurt" bird instead. Step. Step. Step. Further and further from the nest.

Then, when the fox is far enough away, the wing works perfectly fine. The bird flies off. The trick is over.

A killdeer dragging its "broken" wing to draw a predator away from its nest. It is acting.
A killdeer crouched low to the ground with one wing twisted out sideways and tail fanned, performing the broken-wing display. A second killdeer in the same broken-wing pose on rocky ground, one wing splayed wide while the other stays tucked.

From the museum drawer

Painted in 1838

A hand-coloured aquatint engraving showing two killdeer plovers facing each other. The bird on the left is mid-display with its wings raised and tail fanned wide, showing rufous and white feathers. The bird on the right stands upright on a small rocky outcrop, both feet planted, with grass around its legs. Painted by John James Audubon for his Birds of America folio.
John James Audubon painted these two killdeers almost two hundred years ago. The one on the left is doing the broken-wing trick. The one on the right is standing very still. Plate 225, Birds of America.

From scratch to flight

How a killdeer grows up

  1. A shallow killdeer scrape in pale soil, lined with small pebbles instead of nesting material.

    The scrape

    The "nest" is just a dent in the dirt. No twigs. No grass. Sometimes a few pale pebbles for decoration.

  2. Four buff and dark-speckled killdeer eggs sit in a shallow scrape, perfectly camouflaged against gravel and dry grass.

    Four eggs

    Almost always four. Speckled brown and black. Hidden in plain sight on bare ground.

  3. An adult killdeer crouched low and flat over four eggs in a scrape, in the classic incubation posture.

    About a month of sitting

    Both parents take turns. The male usually takes the night shift. Around 25 days of waiting.

  4. A downy killdeer chick stands on oversized pink legs, with one black neck band already visible.

    The day they hatch

    Killdeer chicks walk within hours. They feed themselves from the start. Tiny puffballs on stilts.

  5. A young killdeer with fresh flight feathers stands alert on open ground, almost ready to leave the family group.

    Flying off

    About 25 days later, the chicks can fly. Then the whole family quietly disappears.

If you find one

How to be a good neighbor

Do

  • Tell a grown-up.
  • Keep your distance. Fifteen big steps is a good rule.
  • Keep dogs on a leash.

Don't

  • Don't touch the eggs. If you move them, the parent might not come back.
  • Don't try to "help" the chicks. They walk and feed themselves. They are not lost.
  • Don't mow or trim near the nest until the family flies away. About seven weeks.

The best help is to leave them alone.

Fun facts

Things you might not expect

  • A killdeer's nest is just a scratch in the dirt. No twigs. No grass. No fluff.
  • Killdeer will nest on rooftops, gravel driveways, even airport runways.
  • The broken-wing trick fools predators almost every single time.
  • Both parents take turns sitting on the eggs. Dad usually takes the night shift.
  • When the chicks hatch, they can walk within hours.
  • Killdeer have been protected by a federal law since 1918.

Try this

Three things to do this week

  1. Listen for the call outside. The bird is named for the sound it makes.
  2. Draw the broken-wing trick. What is the bird telling the fox?
  3. Count to 25. That is how many days it takes a chick to learn to fly.

Color one in

Print a coloring page

We turned Audubon's painting into a coloring sheet. Two birds. Lots of feathers. Lots of grass. It prints on one piece of paper.

Use any colors you want. The real killdeer is brown on top and white underneath, with two black stripes across the chest and bright pink legs. But this is your bird now.

Print a coloring sheet
Thumbnail of John James Audubon's painted killdeer plate, with two birds facing each other on a Florida shoreline. Tap the button above to open a printable black-and-white version.
The original painting. After John James Audubon, Plate 225, Birds of America, 1838.
Back to the splash The full exhibit Print the nest guide Coloring sheet