Hello! Most of my posts take place around San Diego County, (Mostly Lake Murray) unless otherwise noted.
For more posts and photos, I also post on Hubpages, a site that is a bit different than others. Thanks!: Shorebirdie on Hubpages

Friday, July 16, 2010

Naming the killdeer

Someone pointed out to me that there may be confusion as to what the numbers mean such as M6, M2, etc. I have a hard time picking out names and killdeer often come and go, so I didn't name those males. Killdeer are also hard to distinguish in just a glance and often I have to use binoculars or photos to tell them apart. It doesn't make it easier that they often turn their backs to me. Also, I didn't want to name them because when you name an animal, it becomes more personal and I didn't want to get too attached.

Anyway, I am going to be assigning names to some of the more commonly observed killdeer that I write about. I will also be changing the "territory map" to reflect current observations that I've seen recently, as killdeer are starting to breed in this area.

Here are some names I've picked out:

  • M1= He will still be called "Little Male" in my posts, but also can be called "Junior".
  • M2="George"
  • F3= "Martha"
  • M2's second mate more recently observed: "Mary"
  • One of M6's chicks is named "Digger", but could be changed later
  • M4= "Grandpa" or "Old Male"
  • M4's most recent mate: "Bo"
I haven't figured out what to name the M6 male, yet or the other males I've seen.

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