Mother protecting eggs

[Maestro]

These birds are all over the place where I live. They lay their nests on the ground and then when you walk near they try to play like a hurt bird to attract predators to them instead of their eggs. Enjoy.

Edit: Photobucket doesn't seem to be resizing very well. :shrug:

[amazona]

1. Killdeer

Nice photo. Once they bred on our neighbor's roof, I wish I had thought to grab a picture.

[Maestro]

2. Thanks.

Many around here call them sandpipers for some reason. Now I have to set them straight. Thanks again.

[okasha]

3. Killdeer are sandpipers.

Or plovers, strictly speaking. Gorgeous shot, by the way.

[TahitiNut]

4. The terms may be mere confusion between family, genus, species, and ...

... variety. The terms kildeer, sandpiper, and plover ... as well as stilt, godwit, phalarope ... are commonly used for various related species of shorebirds (in the Snipes Family). I'm not well-versed on the detailed taxonomy, but there is a distinction, I believe.

As far as I can tell, from top to bottom of the taxonomy, it's the Snipes Family, the Sandpiper Genus, and various Species (and perhaps varieties) with common names that include any one of those terms.

(We can probably also note that common names vary, sometimes between region and sometimes between country. There's often a distinction between varieties in those cases, though.)

See http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=4&q=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~PUBLIC/wilson/59.html&e=9797

[Maestro]

7. Thanks for the info.

Interesting.

[amazona]

8. the bird is beyond a doubt a Killdeer

The A.B.A. "common" English name for the bird is Killdeer. Latin name Charadrius vociferus. It is a species of plover. No one should be calling it a sandpiper. Look at the stocky body and short legs relative to the sandpipers. Are you certain they didn't say "shorebird?"

This is probably the best-known shorebird worldwide and is almost impossible to confuse with any other bird, however, back in the day Our Fearless Leader himself apparently confused one with a Mourning Dove and blew it away, so anything is possible. If people I know are open to knowing the "real" names of things, I tell them; otherwise, I just let them keep sticking their feet in their mouth. I would want to be told the correct name if it were me but some people react badly to new information. So use your knowledge wisely. :-)

P.S. Not saying you were crazy to call them sandpipers. If no one tells you, then you don't know. But don't go around birders and call Killdeer a sandpiper. It might not be a faux pas on the level of calling Canada Goose a Canadian Goose or a Vulture a Buzzard but it doesn't make you look as knowledgeable as you could be either. This picture is of a quality good enough to sell. You can open more doors if picture editors know you can properly label your bird photos.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Maestro]

9. Again, thanks for the info

I'm not a birder. I just took the pic because I thought it was interesting, a mother (pretty bird at that) protecting its young. It made for a nice pic. I will definitely call them what they are for now though.

Funny, its Latin name, Charadrius vociferus, implies that they are very noisy birds and indeed they are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hear them playing or fighting or just plain socializing in the middle of the night and when I took that picture, the mother was just wailing away. Her calls were piercing.

[TahitiNut]

11. Taxonomy ...

Kingdom Animalia -- Animal, animals, animaux
Phylum Chordata -- chordates, cordado, cordés
Subphylum Vertebrata -- vertebrado, vertebrates, vertébrés
Class Aves -- birds, oiseaux
Order Ciconiiformes -- ... petrels, ... plovers, ... shore birds, ... etc.
Family Charadriidae -- avocets, oystercatchers, plovers, stilts
Genus Charadrius Linnaeus, 1758 -- ringed plovers
Species Charadrius vociferus Linnaeus, 1758 -- Chorlo tildío, killdeer, pluvier kildir

(I love this site)

[Maestro]

12. That's my bird.

;)

[TahitiNut]

5. I got curious ... and intrigued by taxonomy.

So, I found a great reference site!!

Now, mind you, when I went to school (50's and early 60's) there were only two kingdoms: the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom. At least that's what I remember. Now, there're five kingdoms. I remember that bacteria were thought to be in the animal kingdom when I learned it, while fungi were regarded as part of the plant kingdom. Virii were a problem. Well, now they've got their own kingdoms. Fancy that.

Well, I found a government site that has the entire taxonomy. Wow. It's at http://www.itis.usda.gov/index.html

It's there that I find that there's a Family of sandpipers ...
Kingdom Animalia -- Animal, animals, animaux
Phylum Chordata -- chordates, cordado, cordés
Subphylum Vertebrata -- vertebrado, vertebrates, vertébrés
Class Aves -- birds, oiseaux
Order Ciconiiformes -- ... petrels, ... plovers, ... shore birds, etc.
Family Scolopacidae -- bécasseaux, sandpipers

http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176568

The genuses include snipes, curlews, phalaropes, various kinds of sandpipers, godwits, and others.

Fascinating!

I LOVE this site!

[Maestro]

6. Thanks for the nice words about the pic

I shot with a high ISO just in case she moved quickly. She didn't though. By the end of the year I want to move to a DSLR; either Nikon or Cannon. Also, I'm glad I wasn't crazy calling them sandpipers.

[Maestro]

10. Here's a few more in the killdeer series

Here she is guarding the eggs when I first approached her.



Then in these next two shots she is frantically pretending to be hurt to draw my attention away from the eggs. She eventually gives up and goes back to her eggs where I captured the shot from the original post. My ISO was not set high enough so I got some blurring, but my camera is not a very expensive digital so the higher ISO pics are usually dark unless I take them in the middle of a bright sunny day.