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Help in Identifying Pair of Birds

17 years ago

Over the last 2-3 weeks I Have seen a pair of birds for the first time. They hang out in my garden and orchard area of my home. They remind me of the type of birds you might see at the beach. The primary reason for this is that they have long legs and when they are approached and take to flight, their sound is similar to what I believe I have heard at the beach. The best description I have is there is some white near the neck, perhaps just on top of the neck. When they take to flight, there appears to be some gold/yellow coloring under the body or wings. I have not used field glasses to get a better view. They are always together. I live about 1-2 miles from a river, but no ocean or beach anywhere near. I wish I could describe their sound, but I cann't.

Any ideas.

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Comments (7)

feather_z9_ncacoast
17 years ago
Is this your bird?

{{!gwi}}

If so, it's a Killdeer, a member of the Plover family. Might be looking for a nest spot on your property, as they will nest in gravelly areas to conceal the eggs.
hoseman
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes, thank you so much. My wife and I just came in from observing one through field glasses. I was going to post an addendum on the coloring.
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chris8796
17 years ago
I've always liked Kildeers and they have a distinct call. My favorite thing about them is when you get close to a nest, they stick their wing out and pretend like they are injured and lead you away from their nest.

Here is a link that might be useful: kildeer call
chinamigarden
17 years ago
The Kildeer, like the one in the photo, has 2 black neck bands. This is the way to tell it apart from other Plovers. They nest on the ground so if you see where they are nesting, be on the lookout for the eggs, which blend in very well with the ground. I have a nest on my driveway almost every year.
frank_il
17 years ago
I love the killdeer. The broken wing display is very cool.
feather_z9_ncacoast
17 years ago
the other thing about Killdeer, is they are often seen far away from water. I bet your pair are looking to use the graveled area of your yard as a nesting area. (Did I already say that? LOL)
hoseman
Original Author
17 years ago
This past weekend my son and his wife came down. As I was showing them around in the garden and orchard, we got fussed at by the killdeer pair. We must have gotten near their nest. One was close to us yelling, and the other one was over a bit doing the wing thing. We had just seen the one who was fussing and as I was explaining to them about the wing thing, my son said look, and the other one was doing the wing thing. It was very interesting to say the least, and impressed my son and his wife!

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