Killdeer

Photo by BigSkyBirds
South of Great Falls, Montana, USA, April 2005

Charadrius vociferus

Identification

The only North American plover with a double black breast band.

Distribution

Breeds throughout much of North America as far north as south Alaska and central Canada and winters in Atlantic and Pacific states and in the southernn USA southwards. In the east breeds north to Quebec and Newfoundland and occasionally taken north to Newfoundland in late autumn and winter by storms on the Atlantic coast. This is the origin of transatlantic stragglers.

Vagrants recorded in Iceland, Faroes and British Isles, south to Spain, Portugal and the Azores and east to Hungary and Romania. Most records come from the British Isles (c.47 British records) in late autumn, winter and early spring and although well-scattered the majority are in the south-west and especially on Scilly.

Photo by raymondjbarlow
Fifty Point Conservation Area, Stoney Creek, Ontario, May 2007

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies¹:

• C. v. vociferus - Canada, US and Mexico; winters to north-western South America
• C. v. ternominatus - Greater Antilles
• C. v. peruvianus - Peru and north-western Chile

Habitat

Open grassy land including pastures, lawns, airfields and golf courses. Also mudflats, along shorelines and beside gravel-pits, especially in winter.

Behaviour

Notorious for its "broken-wing" display to distract predators from nests and young.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Killdeer. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Killdeer

External Links

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