Wednesday, June 7, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Don’t step on
the eggs!
There are two ground-
nesting birds common to
Central Oregon who need
help when it comes to sur-
viving during nesting time
— the killdeer and com-
mon night hawk. Both lay
eggs (almost always four)
that you really cannot see
because they look like the
pebbles surrounding them,
and often get mushed by
people, cattle, wildlife and
whatever, because they are
all but invisible.
The other day, while
leaving Sisters Gallery &
Frame Shop where I had
a great discussion with
Helen Schmidling over
some rare raptor paintings,
I was headed for The Pony
Express for some printer
ink when Kerry and Barb
Bott of Sisters said hello and
launched into a tale about
killdeer nesting.
Seems a small herd of
deer were curious about
what was going in a field
nearby the Botts’ backyard
and started a killdeer shout-
ing match that got attention.
When they went to see
what all the hollering was
about, lo and behold, there
were five or so mule deer
heading over to give the
killdeer eggs a look-see.
Curious people and dogs,
killdeer can pretty much
handle. Mom goes into the
old “broken wing act” that
includes a lot of yelling and
screeching that most dogs
find very annoying and they
tend to leave the scene as
rapidly as possible. (I have
a hunch killdeer learned that
trick a long time ago dealing
with wolves, coyotes, bad-
gers, saber-tooth cats and
other pestiferous critters.)
But for some unknown
reason, the mule deer head-
ing for momma killdeer’s
space were not shushed off,
and two other killdeer, per-
haps recognizing a call for
help from the upset mom
killdeer, came over and
joined her in scaring off the
mule deer — and it worked.
Stay away from ground
nesters — and all nesters,
for that matter. Killdeer are
not the best nest-makers in
the world, just scraping a
few pebbles or sticks into a
small pile and laying their
four eggs inside the pile.
Causing a killdeer to leave
her nest sets back the devel-
oping time for the young, as
the eggs cool down quickly.
So, if you’re out walking
your dog and it scares up a
killdeer, please leave that
area as rapidly as possible
and take Rover with you.
Then the next time you’re on
a walk in the general area,
please keep his honor on a
leash, or avoid the area all
together.
The killdeer is really a
plover and enjoys the genus
name, Charadrius, which
goes way back to ancient
classical Greek and Latin.
The species name, vocifer-
ous — which, as anyone
who has been near a killdeer
nest knows — speaks for
itself.
I’ve often said, and it’s
almost true, that a killdeer
chick hatches running. They
are perhaps the most preco-
cial of any of the ground-
nesting birds, up and run-
ning — looking for insect
prey — just as soon as they
dry out.
As soon as individual kill-
deer young are flying they
join others of their kind and
begin their long trek south-
ward to spend winter in a
warmer environment; not all
at once, mind you, but just
begin wandering in bigger
15
PHOTO BY KERRY AND BARB BOTTS
Killdeer on her eggs.
and bigger family units in
kind of a southern direction.
By the time we’re shaking
and shuddering in the cold
winds of fall, killdeer are
already getting close to their
wintering grounds through-
out South America.
As much as I do not like
to disturb a killdeer on the
nest, the display the female
puts on is quite remarkable
to witness. As she “falls off
the nest,” she seems to drag
herself away from her eggs
with what appears to be an
obvious broken wing, giving
off a pitiful call as though
she’s dying.
She’ll drag herself away
See KILLDEER on page 28
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