Killdeer

Charadrius vociferus

Playero Sabanero,
Chorlito Tildφo

Audio 4
(M. Oberle)

Photo: B. Hallett

IDENTIFICATION: A brown-backed shorebird with two black bars across the white breast. Length: 20-28 cm.; weight: 72-93 g.

VOICE: A loud, high-pitched, "kill" or "kill-deer", given when alarmed. Audio 4 (M. Oberle). The Latin name vociferus is very appropriate, since this species sounds the alarm at the slightest hint of danger.

HABITAT: Pond edges, mudflats, fields of low grass, golf courses, muddy depressions, large lawns in residential areas.

HABITS: Forages alone or in small, loose flocks, and picks food from the surface of vegetation or mud. It often runs a short distance, then stands still for a minute or two before running to another vantage point. It eats grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, flies, other insects, snails, worms, and other invertebrates. The male builds a well-camouflaged scrape nest in an exposed gravel area with a commanding view of the surroundings, often returning to the same area for later nestings. Nowadays, the Killdeer often nests on flat, gravel-roofed buildings in shopping malls and factories where it is safe from ground predators. Both sexes incubate 3-4 eggs for 24-28 days. Since the nests are in vulnerable areas, they often fail, but the Killdeer will try again if the first nest fails. If a potential predator approaches the nest too closely, one parent will attempt to lure the predator away by flashing its orange rump and pretending that its wing is broken. The chicks leave the nest right after hatching and are protected by the parents for several weeks after they fledge at about four weeks.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A common, permanent resident in Puerto Rico. Migrant Killdeer from North America visit Puerto Rico in the winter as well. Clearing of forests for farmland in the 19^th Century created habitat for this species. Although the progressive reduction of farmland in the late 20^th Century has decreased habitat, golf course development has had the opposite effect---increasing feeding and nesting habitat.

RANGE: Breeds from southern Alaska to southern Mexico, along the west coast of South America, and in the Greater Antilles and Bahamas. A regular sight on golf courses and flying over shopping malls at dawn and dusk in Puerto Rico.

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; CHARADRIIDAE; Charadriinae

References

Bent, A.C. 1929. Life histories of North American shore birds, part 2. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 146. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1962).

Collazo, J.A., B.A. Harrington, J. Grear, and J.A. Colón. 1995. Abundance and distribution of shorebirds at the Cabo Rojo salt flats, Puerto Rico. J. Field Ornithol. 66:424-438.

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Hayman, P., J. Marchant, and T. Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Jackson, B. J. S. and J. A. Jackson. 2000. Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). No. 517 in The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Paulson, D. 1993. Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. Univ Washington, Seattle.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Saliva, J.E. 1994. Vieques y su fauna: Vieques wildlife manual. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Boquerón, PR.

Wunderle, J.M., Jr., R.B. Waide, and J. Fernández. 1989. Seasonal abundance of shorebirds in the Jobos estuary in southern Puerto Rico. J. Field Ornithol. 60:329-339.

Killdeer, Spanish text

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