Tammie Rogers
Inspired by Dogs & Nature
Take Me, Instead!
About a week ago, I came upon a Killdeer nest (four eggs sitting in a depression in the gravel driveway.) I chronicled it here: Perilous Parenting.
Hoping to see this couple successfully fledge their chicks before a disaster strikes, I looked up the incubation time for Killdeer eggs. It’s around 24 (very long) days. I say very long because that nest sits right in the middle of a driveway. While folks have suggested we erect a cone or create a detour around the nest, the situation doesn’t permit that. The driveway is one-car-width narrow and is blocked on both sides by a building and a deep culvert.
Fortunately, the nest sits right in the middle, where it would be fairly difficult for a car tire to roll over it, since a vehicle must remain centered on the narrow drive. It is also an infrequently used driveway on our farm, rather than the route delivery trucks might travel or that we would need to use on a daily basis.
This is a new photo of the eggs but looks just like the ones I took on 5/8/23, although the larger, yellowing stone seems to have been moved.
On May 10, I stopped by the “nursery” to check on the status and found the situation similar to when I filmed it a couple days earlier. I was in a golf cart, and stopped about 20 feet away. I stopped on the road and didn’t turn into the driveway. But, the birds took action to protect their nest. I captured photos of the parent birds performing their rendition of “come take me, my wing is broken,” as they attempted to lure me away from their precious eggs. I was amazed at how real the “broken wing” appears during their routine.
I also did a bit of research on the Killdeer and learned that both parents sit on the nest, which is a fairly unique strategy. I observed that both of them also engaged in the lure-the-predator-away behavior as well. I don’t know who is who, but these next pictures of of the second bird, compared to the photos above.
I find it important to state that I didn’t intentionally harass these birds, and I didn’t move towards them from my location when I filmed them. We observe Killdeers all around our area and they tend to nest on gravel spots, often on the sides of far more busy roads than our driveway. As a car approaches, they will leave their nest and take a position in the middle of the road! They also stay on the road, in the path of a fast moving car, far longer than other birds typically might. I have gasped more than once while riding as a passenger in our vehicle and these cute birds hang back before flying off. Apparently, at least from this human’s perspective, they are designed to tempt fate as a survival strategy, in order to protect their chicks.
I’m thinking if the parents would allow you to set up a similar nest on the side of the road but at a distance safely away from not being run over, then, would put up some signage, and move the eggs there.