Chapter C: L. Whittle (1928) has suggested the following theory, as to the (4)

_Fall migration._--Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, mouth of the Yukon River, October 12, St. Paul Island, October 25, and Attu Island, October 31; and Siberia, Bering Island, October 28.

_Casual records._--This species has been reported as a casual from Algeria, Malta, Italy, Spain, Heligoland, Poland, and the British Isles (B. O. U.). In North America, specimens identified as this race, have been collected in British Colombia, Comox, November 2, 3, and 4, 1903, and Masset, August 10, 1920; Washington, Kahlotus, December 19, 1924; Idaho, Lake Chatcolet, October 1, 1923; and Maine, Scarborough, September 11, 1911.

_Egg Dates._--Bering Sea coast of Alaska: 15 records, May 23 to July 1; 8 records, June 11 to 27. Siberia: 5 records, June 30 to July 5.

OXYECHUS VOCIFERUS (Linnaeus)

KILLDEER

HABITS

_Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend_

It may be said of the killdeer that it is probably the most widely distributed and best known of all our shore birds. Unlike most of the group, it is not confined to the borders of lakes and of the sea but is found in meadows, pastures, and dry uplands often many miles from water. Unlike, also, the majority of our shore birds, its sojourn here is not limited to the migration periods, for it breeds and winters throughout a large portion of the United States. It is not of a retiring disposition, and it often makes its presence known by loud calls and cries, to which it owes both its common and scientific names--killdeer and _vociferus_. Its strikingly marked and handsome plumage makes it very conspicuous when it is in motion, as is nearly always the case. In all these respects it resembles the European lapwing, a resemblance to which both Wilson and Audubon called attention. Wilson (1832) says that “this restless and noisy bird is known to almost every inhabitant of the United States.”

During the latter part of the last century and early in this persecution by shooting brought down the numbers of the killdeer so that in certain parts of the country where it formerly bred it became extremely rare. Thus, Forbush (1925) says:

The killdeer was once a common breeding bird in New
England. Early in the present century it became so reduced
in numbers that it was believed to have been practically
exterminated as a breeding species. * * * Legislation
protecting it perpetually has resulted in a gradual
increase of the species which is now nesting locally but
not uncommonly in the coastal region and river valleys of
southern New England.

Other evidence of a similar nature is that of W. J. Brown (1916), who says: “Ten years ago the killdeer was a rare summer resident in the Province of Quebec. During the past five seasons the bird has become very numerous and is now a common breeder.”

The killdeer is one of the most beneficial of birds; it is a delight to the eye as it runs along the field or swiftly flies and skims the ground, and its familiar calls are pleasing. Long may it flourish unharmed by man!

_Spring._--The migration of the killdeer is not as marked as is that of other shore birds whose winter station is far removed from the summer breeding grounds, for it breeds in many places where it winters. As a spring migrant it is one of the earliest of shore birds; indeed, there are few land birds that precede it, coming generally in small scattered flocks, which are augmented if the birds loiter on the way. Prof. William Rowan writes of its migration at Edmonton, Alberta:

It is the first wader to come North in the spring and the
last to go South in the fall. It may arrive as early as the
middle of March and stay till the middle of November. These
are remarkable dates for a shore bird in this country,
since the lakes remain frozen as a rule till the end of
April and exceptionally right into May. Even the rivers may
remain solid till the middle of April.

Lynds Jones says that the killdeer, robin, and bluebird arrive about the same time in Ohio. M. P. Skinner writes of the killdeer in the Yellowstone Park that--

Usually this bird arrives on warm mornings, but on one
occasion they came on a morning when the thermometer
registered below zero, but a few hours later at 10 o’clock
there was a sudden change and the temperature shot up above
40° F.

The killdeers migrate by day and also by night, their calls proclaiming them during the darkness.

_Courtship._--The most noticeable courtship performances of the killdeer are those that take place in the air--the nuptial flight--but those that occur on the ground, although less often seen, are also spectacular.

Of the courtship in the air Dwight Isely (1912) says that in Kansas “during the first month or six weeks after their arrival killdeers seem to spend a large part of their time in courtship. The male will fly back and forth over a field giving its cry sometimes for over an hour without intermission.”

Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says of the bird near Charleston: “During very cold weather the killdeer rises several hundred yards in the air, hovering on almost motionless wings and uttering its far-reaching notes. I have known a pair to remain in the heavens for fully an hour during the coldest weather.” M. P. Skinner of the Yellowstone Park writes: “Although the killdeer is not a song bird I have heard some quite musical notes and even tuneful sequences from him. On the 4th of April one was heard singing while flying low in a circle over the nesting ground, and the performance was strongly suggestive of a nuptial flight song.”

S. F. Rathbun of Seattle has communicated the following interesting account of his observations on the subject:

The evolutions were participated in by both birds of the
pair that I watched on several occasions, and, as my
knowledge goes, very early in spring prior to nesting. At
this time these birds were evidently mated. As they fed
about the margin of a small pond, one invariably following
the other, suddenly the bird In the lead would spring into
the air and mount upwards by a succession of wide, sweeping
spirals, with its mate in pursuit constantly uttering its
notes in a short and hurried manner. Higher and higher was
the flight, but restricted over the certain area of the
pond until both disappeared from one’s vision, although
the note continued to be faintly heard. As I continued to
watch, the birds’ cry ceased and down from the sky I first
noted a speck falling, then both came into plain sight, one
following the other, and then both alighted. This descent
was as quickly made as if the birds fell out of the ether.
After alighting the former actions were again indulged in,
and shortly after the high flight was again made. These
actions were repeated several times during my stay of over
two hours in the vicinity.

From these reports it is evident that the courtship flight is performed in various ways, and, as Audubon (1840) says, “It skims quite low over the ground, or plays at a great height in the air, particularly during the love season, when you may see these birds performing all sorts of evolutions on the wing.”

Of courtship display on the ground Theed Pearse (1924) writes:

On two occasions that I saw one getting up he ran a short
distance and then went through what looked like a sexual
display. Crouching on the ground and leaning toward one
side with wings lowered and then opening the tail in fan
shape over the back so that the cinnamon tail coverts
came conspicuously into view, at the same time uttering a
trilling note.

Aretas Saunders (1926) thus describes the display:

Two birds would crouch side by side but facing in opposite
directions. Then they would droop the tips of the wings
so that they exposed the ochraceous patch of the lower
back, spread the tail, and tip the breast forward, slowly
lifting the wing tips till they came way above the back,
but never covered it from view. All the while they kept up
a continual call, the long-trilled note _t-r-r-r-r-rrrrr_.
The displaying birds would often begin the performance or
end it with a little fighting.

Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) reports a case where--

the male had taken his station some distance from the
female and at intervals whirled rapidly about, uttering a
curious stuttering note as he did so. Every few seconds the
female advanced a few steps toward the male, but when he
stopped to observe the effect of this display she quickly
turned her back and appeared perfectly indifferent. This
was repeated several times until the female suddenly flew
away.

This behavior of the female is very characteristic and common in avian, as well as in other courtship. In whirling about, the brown tail coverts must show prominently and the “stuttering note” may be another term for the “trilling note” used by other writers.

_Nesting._--The killdeer nests in the open, generally in a situation that gives the bird on the nest an extended view. The nest may be close to water--river, lake, or pond more often than the sea--but it is generally in fields a few feet to several hundred yards or even a mile or two from water. Pastures, meadows, cultivated fields, and bare gravelly ground are favorite nesting places for this bird. Gravel roads and the spaces between the ties of a railroad and even a graveled roof have all been chosen by this bird for laying its eggs.

As a rule, the ground is slightly hollowed out for the eggs and a few chips of stone, wood, or weed stalks are placed in and about the hollow. Within narrow bounds there is considerable variation, and I have here set down some of the numerous nests described. Ira N. Gabrielson (1922) says:

In this region [Oregon] the favorite nesting place was
at the base of a hill of corn. As usual, little or no
attempt was made to build a nest--a few pebbles and bits of
corn husks being the usual type. This material is seldom
concentrated into a nest but is scattered over an area of 1
or more square feet, the eggs being deposited on the ground
at some point within this area. * * * A rather unusual
nest was found. It was placed in a small depression and
carefully lined with shredded corn husks.

Harold C. Bryant (1914) reports in Merced County, Calif.--

Another nest found May 15 was unique in the fact that it
was placed in a small grassy knoll surrounded by water, and
that the cavity was well lined with short stems of devil
grass.

J. M. Bates (1916) says of nests found in Nebraska:

The dirt is scooped out the size of my hand and is laid
with thin, flat scraps of magnesian sand shale averaging
an inch long. While a few dead stems lie with the stones,
there is no appearance of design in their presence.

Charles R. Stockard (1905) says of the killdeer in Mississippi:

The eggs are never hidden in the grass or weeds but are
placed in slight depressions on the bare ground or on
short grass turf. The saucerlike depression of a nest has
scattered in it bits of shells, small pebbles, short pieces
of weeds or sticks, and often small bits of crayfish armor.
This rubbish is never arranged so as to form a real nest,
since only a few bits of it are scattered in the depression.