photo by .bobby
The other day, while driving home from work, I turned onto a street that is bordered by two swampy fields, with a small duck pond nearby. Needless to say, the area is populated by various breeds of birds; including mallard ducks, canadian geese, and even a heron or two.
But on this day, I became acquainted with a family whose species I haven’t seen for a couple of years.
As I drove down the street, a blur of wings flew across in front of my car, only to be followed by yet a second set of wings. A little startled by this sudden motion, I slowed down and glanced out my window in an effort to find out just what sort of bird was flapping around in traffic. In the distance I could see brown and white feathers scurrying along the ground, clearly agitated. Something was going on here.
It was enough to perk my curiosity, and also raise my concern. So I made a U-turn around on the street, and started back to where the ruckus was taking place.
It didn’t take long to figure out what the problem was. Scurrying along aside the curb were four little chicks, trying desperately to join their parents who were running alongside above them up on the grass. Unfortunately these babies were just too young and too small to be able to jump up over the curb and onto the grass, to join the adults in the field.
Studying the adult birds carefully, I quickly recognized the brown and white plumage, with the black ring around the throat (thanks to my late father, who was a big outdoorsman with a love for all creatures, great and small)…
Killdeer.
photo by curt hart
The Killdeer is a type of plover – a widely distributed type of wading bird. There are about forty different species of plover found throughout the world, and the Killdeer is probably one of the best known plovers here in the United States. It is found all over, not just close to water… in fact its breeding habitat is fields or lawns, where it nests on open ground – often on gravel. Killdeer nests have even been found in parking lots! The nests blend in quite well with their backgrounds, and the eggs themselves look like speckled stones.
Their name comes from the call they make, which sounds like “kill-deer, kill-deer, kill-deer.” They hunt for food in fields and along shores, eating mainly bugs. Killdeer are quite successful and popular because they readily adapt to living close to people; however, this make them vulnerable to being killed by cars or pesticides or other dangers which come from close interaction with humans. Killdeer will sometimes nest in the gravel rooftops of tall buildings, by which the chicks may die when they attempt to jump off the roof in order to follow their parents.
photo by *Karen
Speaking of chicks, getting back to these four running by the curb…
It was obvious that if something wasn’t done, these babies were going to meet an untimely death, as they kept scampering around, chasing after their parents as the adults flew frantically back and forth, trying to get them into the fields. They were running out into the street, and while it wasn’t a terribly busy one, there was enough traffic that I knew eventually they could get run over.
That’s when I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Pulling my car over, I parked it by the side of the road and walked up to these chicks, hoping that I might be able to somehow convince them to make a “flying leap” over the curb, or at the very least give them a little boost.
Killdeer chicks can run!
photo by ram.rom82
These little buggers took off in all directions, and it soon became clear that I wasn’t going to have much luck unless I could find some help.
In the meantime, the parents were doing their “broken wing” act… trying to lure me away from the babies. While they are not the only species of birds who use this ploy to distract predators, the Killdeer is probably the best known bird most commonly seen using this maneuver. The parent will walk along the ground dragging its wing and making distress calls, appearing to be injured. The predator, thinking this is an easy prey, will thus follow the adult and move away from the nest.
photo by rlw5663
Of course, such an act wasn’t working with me… but neither was trying to herd these precocious youngsters over the curb.
Then I noticed a man over at the pond, scattering food for the birds. I figured that he must be a fellow animal lover, and called out. He came walking over and I introduced myself and explained the situation. It turned out he worked at the local car dealership right next to the pond, and often would come down, feed the birds, and make sure everything was okay. When I described the Killdeer family predicament, he immediately responded with “let’s see what we can do.”
With the two of us working together, one on either side of a chick, we were soon able to corner them and get up close enough to where I could actually scoop up the young one and gently lift it up and over the curb to join mommy and daddy. One by one, we were able to capture and release three of the chicks into the field, where they quickly scampered off and were soon lost amongst the grass, their little downy coats blending in perfectly with the surrounding foliage.
photo by decadence_2artbar
Unfortunately, we were not able to save the fourth baby – before we could get to it, the chick ran out into the road and was run over by a passing motorist. Needless to say, I was quite upset and cursed at the driver while giving him the finger. But at the same time, I realize that this is just one of the harsh lessons that Mother Nature teaches us. It is a sad but true fact that many bird babies do not survive to reach adulthood. At least I was doing my part to try and give the remaining three a fighting chance.
Contrary to popular myth, adult birds will NOT abandon their babies if a human touches them. It is perfectly okay to handle a baby bird gently in order to place it back in the nest or assist it in some way. Most birds have a poor sense of smell anyway. So my handling the babies, which I did briefly, should do no harm.
After congratulating each other, my fellow baby rescuer and I walked back to my car, feeling pretty good about ourselves. In the distance we could see the adult Killdeer making their way through the field, no doubt leading the family along their way.
photo by Wish-I-Was
We are not alone on this planet. We share it with many other species of both flora and fauna. As a shareholder in planet Earth, we have a responsibility to take care not only of the planet itself, but of our brother and sister species. Whatever I can do to help I will attempt to do so. I’ve been known to move turtles off the road, swerve around squirrels, and escort a mother duck and her ducklings across a busy four-lane highway. I’ve taken injured opossums, rabbits, and birds to the local wildlife center. I’ve protested against the needless destruction of a forest, and cleaned up the shores along a river.
And I’ve assisted little Killdeer babies in getting over the curb.
As I drove away from that field, I couldn’t help but feel that the Goddess would be pleased. As I tucked myself into bed that night, I thought about how three little brown, black and white chicks were tucking themselves under their mother’s wing…
All because two people cared enough to stop and help.
photo by hartcurt
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads 
That has got to be the cutest tufted tail I’ve seen in a long time!
Heartwarming story and wonderful pictures, Osh.
Thanks for sharing!
Awwwww… shucks…. how sweet… I used to follow the mother’s along our dirt road to watch their bait-n-switch technique. They were some of my favorites growing up.
Ocean!
What a lovely story, and such good photographs too!
We have a plover species here in Hawaii – in Hawaiian, they’re called ‘kolea.’ They migrate to ALASKA every spring and return in the fall…except that some plovers have decided to stay here year-’round.
They are territorial and will always come back to the same street, yard, or park they left.
Thanks for sharing!
Oh how beautiful… Mother nature sure has wonderful ways to exhibit her beauty. wish people would learn the same lesson; we all have beauty in us; just let us live the way we are. im sure the little guys parents are happy that there are humans on earth to help them out after all it is the humans that destroyed their natural habitat; there are fewer and fewer places for nature to go; man has taken over and destroyed our natural environment..
Human
Hi Deaf Pagan,
I can’t remember how I surfed to your blog, but here I am. I loved this story so much. Good for you and the stranger for helping the killdeer family. I learned a lot by reading this post.
Caroline
awwww well at least most of the babys were saved, darn reckless drivers.
Wonderful Job!! At least you managed to save the other three, it is more than most people would have done. PS The photos are wonderful!
Aaahhhh… so cute. Whew…glad to hear the chicks are OK.
I am addicted to Indianapolis’ falcons (http://blogs.indystar.com/falconblog/) Yes, it seems that the camera has technical problems, but when it works, it is fun watching the cute white chicks… I know they are really predatory birds :o) I just love peregrine falcons (I was first introduced to it in Rochester, NY, with peregrine falcons nesting at the top of one Kodak buildings there.)
Ocean, this is one of the best posts today… I was here having a Mac Donald’s lunch at the office (arght, I know), and was reading your story like a novel. It’s really an “aaawwwww” post inded! š Wish more people would concern enough to spend some time helping little creatures instead of thinking they would be wasting time. Living in Rio I don’t have chances to help our fellow friends but I keep my eye opened to the case of it. It’s always a pleasure reading your posts, as there’s always something to learn.
Blessed be, and kisses from Nydia.
PS: Life slowly coming back to the so called normality, I’ll soon email you again. Take care!
That was a wonderful thing you did. š
We have killdeers on our property that come back and nest on the gravel near the wildflower meadow every year. I love listening to them.
And nobody does the broken wing act as well as a killdeer. They ought to have an Oscar category for them. š
[…] Needless to say, the area is populated by various breeds of birds including mallard ducks, canahttps://deafpagancrossroads.com/2008/05/06/i-brake-for-killdeer/Don’t kidnap animals from the wild Lancaster OnlineThe weather is nice. People wander outdoors. It’s […]
How do you raise these birds because i have four laying on my table in a nest under a heat lamp?
When we have a full moon (or near full) in our area of rural western Washington, the killdeers stay up all night. They fly around, calling to each other. No matter how hard I try, I can’t see them in the air. I can hear them flying overhead.
I can only think that they are having great fun š
Many years ago, I was told the story – an Indian legend, which explained how the Killdeer bird got its name. This is how it goes:
The Killdeer builds its nest on the ground in small rocky area by arranging the rocks in nest shape and laying their eggs inside. As the eggs are virtually indistinguishable from the surrounding rocks, the nest are difficult to see and may be found when the parent is present or coming or going. (This description is accurate, as I’ve actually seen several in the area in which I live.) Anyway, the legend goes that a deer (not seeing the nest, so well camouflaged) accidentally steps in and crushes the eggs and thus the irate Killdeer parents started screaming: KILL DEER ! KILL DEER ! KILL DEER !
I really believe that I heard this story and didn’t make it up. (I’ve been unable to locate the person who related this lndian legend to me.)
Is there anyone out there who has heard this and knows for a fact if this story could actually be a true Indian legend ?
Hi Agnes ~
I’m not familiar with this story myself, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any truth to it. Native Americans did have many legends to explain different things.
Thanks for sharing.
~ Ocean
A more self righteous essay would be hard pressed to find. Unfortunately for the deceased chick,there is an opposite side of the spectrum. Had you not made the U turn in the road and caused the chicks to flee, Nature as you say probably would have indeed taken its course of Natural Selection,in this case,selection of LIFE, and who knows, that unfortunate murdered chick may have lived to see another day. Rest assured that curb wasnt the most trying obstacle Mother Killdeer had to overcome to keep her chicks together.Dont pat yourself on the back too hard.
Ah, ChickSlayer, finally the anonymous asshole strikes!
It’s too bad that unmoderated blogs bring out the worst in people. I’m sorry, not people, just little angry commentards.
Actually, this blog IS moderated…by yours truly. I check in on the site on a daily basis, and all comments are emailed directly to me.
Yes, I saw Chickslayer”s comment. It might not have thrilled me, but he has a right to his opinion, and he does make a legitimate point…whether I choose to agree with him or not.
Chickslayer’s is not the first comment on Deaf Pagan Crossroads that might appear “offensive” – nor I suspect will it be the last. But I have made it a policy that unless a comment truly has nothing worthwhile to say or is clearly spam, I leave it. There are a few I have had to think about, and this might have been one of them… but I’m not going to go removing every comment simply because the messenger comes across as a “commentard.” I’ve got better things to do with my time.
As a fifty-something year old High Priestess with over 25 years of experience under her belt, I’ve learned that some things just aren’t worth getting into a debate over. I’ve also discovered that even people I don’t like can have something worthwhile to say.
Did I do the right thing in making that U-turn and helping these killdeer chicks? Maybe…maybe not. Maybe I should have kept on driving and left things up to Natural Selection. Maybe all of the chicks would have lived to grow up and produce families of their own.
But we are all given freedom of will, and the responsibility of accepting the consequences of exercising such. For better or for worse, I made a choice that day…one of the thousands of choices I have made in my life. Some were great choices, some were merely fair – and others were pretty damn stupid.
But I will stand behind the choices I have made, and own up to the not-so-great ones.
And sometimes I write about them.
The killdeer article simply struck me as extremely self satisfactory.Not unlike the Prius driver with seven “Hybrid” stickers smocked over their LUVMPGS license plate, nor the “I vote” T-shirt wearing Clone,this character flaw seems to neutralize well intentioned deeds. Imagine the ego to “assist” some fledgling killdeer, then feel the need to blog about your good deed to the world.I’m sorry there are those of you who are so easily offended.I would never, however, stoop to the sad hilarity of namecalling on the internet.Laughable. Ironically, if Mother Killdeer has a blog of her own, it probably contains the following excerpt: “Unfortunately, we were not able to save the fourth baby ā before we could get to it, the chick ran out into the road and was run over by a passing motorist. Needless to say, I was quite upset and cursed at the driver while giving her the finger. But at the same time, I realize that this is just one of the harsh lessons that Mother Nature teaches us…”
A good deed is heard louder left unspoken.
I was wrong. ChickSlayer didn’t come on here to be a uncaring argumentative troll. He’s right! Killdeers babies should have evolved to deal with busy motorways even though nature programmed their parents to nest in flat gravely areas near water (like near roadways) so it’s their fault. Anyone helping these little creatures are smug self-centered tree hugging bastards who have no other other motives than to make t-shirts announcing their superior lifestyle choices. How could we be so blind?
“I would never, however, stoop to the sad hilarity of namecalling on the internet.Laughable.”
Think of it as shorthand for describing someone who sees the need to cut down every good deed, mock people who actually bother to help those in need, piss on someone who had the ultimate egotistical delusion that they were simply talking about an event that was special to them. Ok, Let’s not say that you are an asshole (which you certainly haven’t disproven yet). It’s safe to say that you are filled with self loathing and anger that you just HAVE to share. Not an ego thing, just wanting to spread your enlightenment of hateful uncaringness to an otherwise unwilling audience.
Thanks for that. You know there’s simply not enough verbal venom and mockery on blogs these days. That’s your special form of “sad hilarity”.
“A good deed is heard louder left unspoken.”
– But you just have to speak your angry, mocking excuses for inaction. That’s why you posted here, right?
Is there some cute wildlife you’ve smashed with your car, or failed to save when you could have, that makes you so angry at other peoples’ good deeds?
Do you attack wildlife rescue centers for their obvious lust for notoriety and admiration? Do you laugh watching animals smothering in putrid oil on TV?
(Kill ’em all. Let nature sort them out)
Listening to your own smug, sarcastic and hateful words – if your WERE into name calling – what would you call yourself?
Thinking back, I guess I know what you mean. That Mother Teresa is one smug, selfish bitch. Oh, she’s dead? That’ll teach her. What an asshole.
I agree with your choices around helping to save the baby Killdeers. I also don’t find writing about the experience to be inflammatory, except to those who search for any reason to become inflamed.
I disagree with one thing, though. This is YOUR blog. Just like a public circle, people who have the intention to disrupt, mock or harass can be asked to leave (or deleted).
There are easily a million blogs where angry, snarky, hateful people can post whatever verbal vomit they can puke up onto their keyboards.
Your blog doesn’t have to be one of them.
“even people I donāt like can have something worthwhile to say.” But what about when there isn’t anything worthwhile? How is being called “self righteous” or “self satisfactory” or that your “character flaw seems to neutralize well intentioned deeds” worthwhile? How does it contribute to anything but the ever-spreading smug cynicism that is the earmark of the blog-poisoning troll?
It’s your blog. You don’t HAVE to sponsor their comments on it – especially when it’s from someone who has no respect for you or your actions.
It’s not their right.
“Delete” isn’t always a bad thing. I’d be happy see my comments go away in the process of cleaning up.
Thank you to both Chickslayer and Markus for sharing your points of view.
I think both of you have made some interesting and thought-provoking points which merit consideration. This is why I am choosing to leave all of them up for others to read and possibly ponder over.
However, I would like to ask that we now put this issue to rest. If you two wish to discuss it further, please do so outside of the realms of this blog.
Any further comments on this matter will be deleted.
Thank you.