A shorebird you can see without going to the beach, Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, and parking lots. These tawny birds run across the ground in spurts, stopping with a jolt every so often to check their progress, or to see if they’ve startled up any insect prey. Their voice, a far-carrying, excited kill-deer, is a common sound even after dark, often given in flight as the bird circles overhead on slender wings. Precocious is a very good description word for the Killdeer bird. Baby killdeer always come out running. They hatch with their eyes open, and as soon as their downy feathers dry, they start scurrying about, following their parents and searching the ground for something to eat. Newly-hatched killdeer can't fly, and they need their killdeer parents for protection and guidance, but they are a lot closer to independence than most baby birds. Seeing fluffy killdeer chicks is one of the pleasures of summer. Although they are lively right away, just-hatched killdeer are like new fawns, a bit tottery and clumsy on their overly-long legs. It's worth keeping an eye out for killdeer over the next couple of months, on the chance of glimpsing the endearing infants. You sometimes see an adult killdeer in gravel, such as along a rocky railroad easement, or on a dirt road. As you approach, the killdeer may suddenly develop a broken wing. It struggles in front of you, as if it can barely walk, let alone fly. One or both wings drag pitifully on the ground. If your instinct to rescue the killdeer overcomes you, and you try to catch the bird, it almost lets you reach out and pick it up. But somehow, while struggling to keep its balance, the killdeer manages to stay one step ahead of you. As you pursue it, the killdeer leads you farther and farther away from its downy killdeer babies crouching on the ground or half hidden under a tiny bush somewhere. When the killdeer feels that the young are safe from you, its broken wing heals suddenly, and the bird flies away, calling a loud "KILL-DEE" that sounds like a jeer. See: www.birdwatching.com/stories/killdeer.html
