KILLDEER 101
Robin Collett,  Photographer
Marvis Collett, Narrator
May 18, to May 20, 2005
Pictures were taken from a car window in the
Parking Lot of the Granite School District Offices
2500 South State Street
Salt Lake City, Utah


k1

I wonder what is keeping this Killdeer so quiet.


k2

These eggs survived a windstorm of 60 mph and a violent rainstorm.



k3
Mom is very happy that she is no longer wet and cold and that the eggs are o.k.


k4
May 19, 2005, at approximately 12:00 noon the babies appeared.
Since it takes approximately 28 days to hatch Killdeer eggs these babies
were in this parking lot for a long time before they hatched.  No one disturbed
the eggs and no one ran over them with a car, nor did anyone step on them.

k5
Did you know that young Killdeer come out of the shell looking
just like Killdeer?  


k6
Mom broods the chicks.


k7

And by May 23, all of the Killdeer were gone.
  
 
Killdeer parents brood their chicks almost constantly for the first 3 days, and on and off up until the 17th day after hatching when the young can thermoregulate.

Daddy Killdeer are quite attentive parents and any of the adults pictured could be the dad. In many shorebird species, all incubating and brood-rearing is the responsibility of the dad. Killdeer are actually unusual in the fact that the females stick around after laying the eggs.

Killdeer chicks are also capable of flight between the 20th and 31st day after hatching.

(Thanks to Kristin Purdy for this information!)