Aw, that's too cute Flamey! We have a family of them across the street, they like to nest in the dadgum rocks in peoples driveways making parking a trial sometimes but they sure are cute....guess I better go hunt this years brood. ;o) Thanks for sharing.

Awwwwwww!
Bet you've never had such a sweet trickster get ya like that before!

We had some nest in our driveway several years ago and put a barricade around the area but I think neighborhood cats got them. They always nest in the field across from our house though - you can hear that unmistakable sound.

We have some killdeer that nest in the swampy area made by a drainage ditch in our local sports complex/park. They are neat to watch..zip around.

What darling and very clever birds, I'm so glad you had this experience - what a wonderful way to enjoy a beautiful spring day.

I always wondered how the Killdeer didn't become extinct since they always nest in the worst places.

I love seeing them though. I agree the babies are just cute as can be!

I am with lydia...As cute as they are...they have to be the stupidest birds around.

I am with you. It is amazing how fast they are up and running off.

We used to have them in our gravel drive when we lived in Northern Oklahoma.

Moni

At our last home, I walked by a city dug drainage ditch where Killdeer nested and was decoyed away. He led me to a crossing ditch that I could not cross so I turned left and he gave up. I never found a nest, so they do a good job of hiding them in plain sight.

I have only seen them in photos. I am glad you got to see them! They are good mamas and the babies are so cute.

Wanted to add to the above post, that looks like a young one. No flight feathers?????

What a great picture....adorable! My favorite aunt was a bird-lover and when I visited the cemetery a couple of weeks after she died, I found a killdeer nest on her grave. She'd have loved that.

I just love how we have so many bird lovers here at the KT.

I think any animal that can live and survive and breed and raise babies in almost any kind of environment has to be very clever. Their decoy actions give them a real edge, apparently, because they raise babies quite well. Even their eggs are camoflauged, they look like stones. Since they don't use any nesting materials, they are really hard to find. Killdeer spend most of their time on the ground, they're like shorebirds without a shore, turns out they LOVE parking lots! (I did some Googling.)

The photo is a baby, Stargazzer, the parents are much, much larger. They can't fly at first but they are able to run around and feed themselves because they stay in the egg for about 2 weeks longer than other baby birds that are dependent on their parents to feed them. Because of this, they travel around feeding on bugs and stuff as they go along. What's so cute is that even as very young babies, like the ones we saw today(so tiny, probably only days old) are the spitting image of their parents. A one-day old killdeer is actually 2 weeks older than a one-day old chickadee or robin. How cool is that?!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wiki article and photos...

There are some around here.

When I was clearing the garden for cultivating, I found an egg - well camouflaged, as well ... lucky that I hadn't stepped on it!

I moved it a few feet to some grass along the edge of the garden - about 8' or so - I hope that she finds it ... and accepts it.

ole joyful

Flam I am so glad you posted this.I love these birds.I have learnt alot about them.There was one at my mom's grave.Ashley starting looking for her nest because the birds was acting weird.What it was she was trying to scare is off.She had laid eggs in the gravel at a nother grave there.Hope you do not mind me posting her pics

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Here is her eggs.

So, that's the bird that laid eggs in front of our Jet Ski storage Garage. We would have run over the eggs had the Mama not thrown a fit and distracted us. We went to open the garage door and Dean almost stepped on the eggs. She gave quite a show.

Oh, Judy, I love that you added to this post! And those are wonderful pictures. I'm amazed that you even found the eggs, aren't they the best camo you've ever seen?!

So you were tricked too, they are really good at this, aren't they? I hope finding them gave you some extra comfort, knowing your mom's grave was in good company and the whole "circle of life" thing keeps happening.

That's a great story! She got the attention of the right people.