The M6 dad builds a nest!

Just an update on the killdeer nests as I didn't have my camera, so I didn't take any photos. Digger and Shy's parents started their own nest not 30 feet from their daughter's. It's actually in a better spot and has a better chance of surviving. This is especially true since they know how to defend it against threats. Already the dad is giving the squirrels the evil eye.

The last egg from Shy's nest is gone leaving only one smashed egg. The crows were all over the place this morning along with the blackbirds. But, none were in the area where the nest was or near their parents' nests. Shy and her mate are already making new nest scrapes, but in another really bad spot. I guess it's trial and error when it comes to raising a brood successfully with killdeers.

This is also day 12 of Tom the muscovy's absence. I don't think I will see him again.

Return of the "Little Male" and Shy becomes a mother

Little Male is back!

George's older son, Junior (also known as "Little Male" way back when I started this blog) has returned and seems to still remember me. He is constantly yelling! Even though he seems to be alone, he does a "family call" and I think his mate may have laid eggs on the northern side of the lake. Unfortunately, a family of raccoons frequent that area and it's unlikely that any eggs laid would hatch there.

Never stops talking

Today, he followed me around the lake for ten or fifteen minutes.

Across the lake, Digger and Shy's parents are still hanging around the ballfields instead of heading back to their breeding area. I think I may know why. Two other killdeers were watching me when the M6 parents began making "leave me alone" calls. I went over to where the other killdeer were at and found a nest in a very bad spot.



After looking at photos of the parents, I think one of them might be Shy. As soon as Shy started getting upset, mom and dad were right at her side, helping to defend the nest. They flew all around, trying to distract me. As soon as I left the area, the "grandparents" went back to their area. It's extremely unusual that anyone other than the parents show interest in another killdeer's nest even if it's a family member. Then again, Shy never completely detached from her dad and he may consider those eggs to be his.

Shy?

Shy's mate

I'm not going to give the exact location of her nest, but it's in a very, very, very bad spot and it's unlikely that the eggs would be around long enough to hatch. There's a lot of predators and human activity that would make it a miracle if those eggs survive.

In other lake news, Killer wanted to show me his pretty tail again:



But, really, he just wanted to distract me from his love, Digger:



Ducky was back with his best friend from ducklinghood. I think his mate is brooding a nest:



And, this black duck is always fun to watch. Here she is with her new boyfriend:



Bob2 is started to get spotted again. She will leave the area soon:



And, it's bath time for pigeons!

Killdeer Update, M2 and F3 "missing"

M1, Little Male, in an area where seed is given to the doves. M1's sore on the front of his chest has healed.

I couldn't find any sign of M2 or his mate today. At one time, I thought I heard an alarm and territorial call from him when M1 was forced to cross the lake by someone walking their dog. But, I think it might have been my ears playing trick with me. I didn't see him when I got to the lake and I didn't see him when I came back. I haven't heard or seen of any headless bird bodies, so it's unlikely that the grackles got him. The grackles have actually been behaving reasonably well towards the other birds (and people) so far. So, it's very likely that M2 is in his nesting area with his mate and eggs.

I've noticed that killdeers have two parts to their territories: a feeding area (where they are most of the time) and a nesting area that is usually within sight of their feeding territory. This may be an adaptation to living with "smart" predators like crows, grackles, and ravens who watch the habits of the birds whose babies or eggs they eat. The males spend most of their time in their feeding area, only visiting their nesting area once in a while to "show" the nesting site to a prospective mate and to check on it's current safety level. After the chicks hatch, they may or may not bring them to the feeding area depending on how safe the parents feel that area is. That is probably why killdeer families "disappear" after the first day or two after they hatch. The family is brought to a "feeding area".

I still have not found where M2's nesting area is. It's undoubtedly within sight of his territory, but that could me a mile away on the other side of the lake. I am hoping that by the time the chicks are a day old, most of the grackles will be done nesting and be out of the area or in fewer numbers. But, it appears that some of the grackles are building new nests, including a pair in M4's area. However, I think that pair may disperse when the ravens decide to return to the area. Grackles do hang out with other blackbirds, but I don't think they like ravens and crows, especially when they're outnumbered. If I start seeing F3, M2's mate, more frequently in the future, I am going to assume that their nest was a failure.

Speaking of M4, I don't exactly know where his nesting area is, but I have a suspicion that it's in the area with the grackles. If the grackle number stays low (1-4 individuals), the killdeer may be OK and not be bothered. But, I think it's more likely that the nesting area is in M7's area as M4 is constantly "watching" that area and fighting off other males who try to take residence there.

Today, M4's voice was nearly gone. He could hardly call above a whisper. He seemed very nervous while I was there and was having such a hard time with his voice that I thought I should leave so that he could get his voice back. No sign of "Bo" anywhere.

I thought I heard a killdeer in the M8 area today doing an alarm call. It's hard to tell because there's so many finches and phoebes making a lot of noise that it was hard to tell. I didn't go and check it out. Chances are that it's the "Deets", but it could be M2 as the "Deets" showed up in this area last time M2 was missing (though the "Deets" looked and acted like totally different killdeer, maybe they could actually be M2 and F3 all puffed up or something). Killdeer behavior does change when they are in their breeding areas, mostly with more nervousness and defensiveness.

Grackles and Killdeer Chicks

Great tailed grackle in tree

Lake Murray has a large population of great-tailed grackles. They have pretty much taken over the lake and are heavily concentrated in M2's territory. That could be why M2 and his gal have been fighting with Little Male over the south side of the territory--to find a safe place for their chicks. But, Little Male won't give up his feeding grounds that easily. Also, it's not all that safe, grackles sometimes go there along with a few crows and small raptors.

So far, I haven't seen any really bad behavior on behalf of the grackles except for one time when they tried to steal food out of M2's mouth. I think he gave the grackle a sharp peck with his beak, but otherwise seemed unworried about the big black bird, who backed off. It's possible that the grackle didn't get more aggressive because I was there, or it felt like it wasn't worth it. But, M2 seemed pretty much unconcerned about the bird. I have heard about grackles killing an adult killdeer, but I haven't seen any real aggression between the two species yet. (I did see a grackle aggressively harass and peck heavily a large white-winged dove at a Borrego Springs bird feeder recently for no apparent reason).

However, I am almost 100% positive that the grackles will eat any of the killdeer chicks that might be running around that area. While I do think the killdeer could defend itself pretty good if it was alert and ready for a grackle attack, I fear that the grackle will actually kill a parent to get to a chick.

So far, I haven't seen any harm come to ducklings as they are mostly ignored by the grackles. I don't think the mother ducks like them and that could be why they moved them out of that area quickly. The family of five used to hang out near the grackle nesting area when the ducklings were very young until the grackle chicks started to fledge.

M2 avoids being near the grackle nesting area, now very busy with fledging chicks. He used to go over to that area a lot, but has since stayed away as about a dozen of them are nesting in the trees there. Hopefully, the grackles won't be territorial when it comes to their fledgelings and my fears of one of them killing M2 or his mate may come true.

I am sure that F3, M2's mate, has already laid her eggs (they mated a week ago), but perhaps in another male's territory. M2 was calling her last time I saw him, but there was no sign of her. M1 has a "safer" area to nest in but people walk around that area and sometimes a hawk comes by. M4 has ravens firmly established in part of his territory. I haven't seen M8 in a while. M6 and M7 may have safe nesting spots, but I have seen no breeding activity in those areas except for the fights over a female.

It would seem that only M3 and M5 (the ones living in a fenced off area near the treatment plant) have the safest nesting area with few grackles, hawks, crows or ravens. But, I can't see them, so it looks like I won't be able to see or photograph any killdeer chicks at the lake this year or even the next few years if the grackle population stays high.

Strangely, there have been few true large blackbirds at Lake Murray recently. They used to be extremely common there until recently.

So, will the rise of the grackles mean the demise of the killdeer or other birds in the area?