Killdeer
Some interesting behaviour here - a Killdeer feigning injury, presumably in order to fool me into trying to capture and eat it and thereby leading me away from its nest. I don't know where its nest is, but Killdeer do have a reputation for laying their eggs in inconvenient places. The bird pictured is lying in the middle of a moderately busy road (busy for a village anyway) between a school playing field and a school bus shelter parking lot. Fortunately, it was nifty enough to get up and run away when a car came, much to my relief. The rusty back and tail feathers, which are not seen when the bird is running around normally, almost look like dried blood. I wonder if they add to the illusion?
Polk County, Wisconsin.
Killdeer
Some interesting behaviour here - a Killdeer feigning injury, presumably in order to fool me into trying to capture and eat it and thereby leading me away from its nest. I don't know where its nest is, but Killdeer do have a reputation for laying their eggs in inconvenient places. The bird pictured is lying in the middle of a moderately busy road (busy for a village anyway) between a school playing field and a school bus shelter parking lot. Fortunately, it was nifty enough to get up and run away when a car came, much to my relief. The rusty back and tail feathers, which are not seen when the bird is running around normally, almost look like dried blood. I wonder if they add to the illusion?
Polk County, Wisconsin.