Brothers and Sisters, Mom and Dad

All the chicks seem to be fine, that I could see. Sometimes, it's hard to tell who is who when I see them, even with binoculars. So, I take photos of them and look at their breast bands and faces more closely for the subtle differences. But, when I first shoot those photos, I don't always know who is actually there.

In the morning, it looks like I first stumbled upon Tiny and his mom all puffed up and possibly sleeping. They flew away to another part of the same area and when I went over to that side, I assumed they were the only two killdeer there.

Martha and Tiny

The problem is that on a brown surface, like a lakeshore, killdeer almost become invisible. Luckily, they often stand by the water which makes them more visible against it. So, I shot pictures of what I thought were the same two killdeer. But, when I went home and looked at the photos, I could tell it was not the same two. The second set of photos I took look like Martha and Killer. Tiny was probably standing nearby, but I didn't expect to look for three, so I didn't see him or where he went. Therefore, when I witnessed some affectionate chirps between one and another, I originally thought that the brothers were getting along great, but it was really one chick calling after his mom and wanting to be with her.

Martha and Killer

Another photo of Martha and Killer

Later, dad was on duty along with Firecracker and Killer. All three look very similar with their markings except that one was a female. But, sometimes with shadows and if the light is in a certain angle, a female can look like a male and vice-versa, especially when there is high contrast. Dad always stays close to Firecracker, but watches over both chicks.

George watching over his children

Firecracker

Firecracker hiding behind a rock (sorta)

Killer trying to hide behind a rock, also.

When dad gets too close to one of his male chicks, he gets called at almost with a "kill-dee" sound, but not quite. It's almost like a territorial yell, but the notes aren't right and it's stopped short. There's no clucking or threat calls at all and no one gets chased. It may be a special call pleading for the resident male to not hurt him as he's just a baby and he's not a threat. When both brothers are together, it sounds closer to a territorial call, but always stopped short like it's saying "hey, you get out! Oh, sorry dad, didn't recognize you.".

I assume that whomever is missing is with the other parent.

A hawk scare?

When I was almost about to leave, the two young killdeer started making alarm calls and flew off, going around in a circle around the bay. I also saw several other birds like pigeons and grackles fly away from that area really fast. A few seconds after the young killdeer started flying around, I believe dad started after them. Two of them landed near where they were before, but one landed near a grassy area and the geese. Then, after a minute or two, the geese started running to the water. I didn't see anything other than a vulture fly by and the killdeer rarely react to them. Once in a while they do, but rarely, even the babies.

After it was all over, a killdeer chirped for everyone to get together (I assumed it was George calling for Firecracker, whom I think was the one who landed far away). I didn't go check on them as I was sure they were alright as they were the first to react to whatever it was. If it was a hawk, it probably made its strike and got what it wanted or moved on. It does bother me that the young killdeer were the first to fly off because it makes them easy targets for a hawk who likes to catch its food in the air. Maybe that's why George went after them to bring them back to the ground. Hopefully the killdeer moved out of the way of the panicking geese.

Ballpark killdeer flock:

Today, there were two killdeer missing when I first saw the group, but they were both on Cowels and Del Cerro Point. Later, one other killdeer flew away, making the total 8 when I left. It's hard to approach them close enough to get photos unlike when they are near water, so I have a hard time identifying individual ones. When I first arrived, I did see a young killdeer, a male, foraging in the field. I think that could be "Secret" and "Secret" is a male--not a female. It's possible since I never got to see him as a chick. This can be good, we've got two males and a female on one side of the lake and two females and a male on another. Maybe they'll get together.

Also seen:

Flycatcher, the almost grown duckling was seen today. I think I may have even seen a sibling or two of hers show up on the scene, also. However, the young duckling, who would now be two weeks old, was not seen. I was really sad as I look forward to him coming up to me every time I'm there. But, the weather patterns have changed and I think a lot of ducks have gone elsewhere for shade and to keep cool. Hopefully the little duckling is still around. I thought I saw his mom, but she would have come up to the shore when I threw some peas in, so I don't think it was her. A lot of ducks were missing this day, probably due to the hot weather.

Flycatcher

Two sandpipers were seen and they were fighting. I've never seen two sandpipers at this lake together. They were still in their breeding colors, but are starting to get grayer.

Update on killdeer chicks day 3. Also, 3 new chicks found!

Tiny (the smallest one) waits for dad, who was standing nearby, to warm him up

Day three and I could only find two at a time each time I visited. They scatter, now, when I approach and hide behind rocks. They still freeze when I approach, which may be a problem, but at least they move out of the way when I initially walk up. And, they hide behind or near larger rocks, so, their chances of accidentally getting stepped on is lower.

In the morning, I found two on the shore and I thought I heard a third peeping in the bushes. I photographed the two which seem to be the biggest and the middle sized one.

The middle sized chick

The largest chick who likes to run a lot

Later, when I came back, they had moved into a brushy area and, again, I saw only two in the brush and maybe heard a third hiding in some nearby reeds. I think the two I saw were the biggest and the smallest.

The parents seem to be not as excited with me there, except when I start looking through the brush for their chicks. They also don't like me being on one stretch of land which is actually far, far away from where their chicks are at, but where I can still watch them. When I leave this area, they go out on the road and do broken wing acts. People don't really understand what's going on, though. Hopefully, they won't hurt anyone and I won't get blamed if they do.

Mom checks me out

When M2 was up on the road trying to distract me, he noticed the Cooper's hawk that was perching nearby. It's not unusual to see that hawk there and he was probably not watching the chicks, but M2 attacked him and chased him away.

Three new chicks discovered

Unfamiliar male killdeer in the M6 territory

I found three new chicks in an area where I rarely go, but I was only physically able to get a look at one chick. There were definitely two more as their peeping was really loud and distinct. I am unfamiliar with the parents. They were in a very brushy area that has a steep slope behind it. Except for coyotes in the area, they are very well protected from just about everything that could get them. I won't be attempting to observe them very often because by the time I find a way down to them, they have already scattered into the brush. It's very hard to observe them there because, even though I see the parents go into the brush to attend them, it's hard to actually see them. They appear to be a couple of days older than M1 and F3's chicks as the one I saw is almost double the size of theirs.

One of three chicks in this area hiding in some reeds

Next update is several days away during the weekend when people will be fishing on the shore and picking up trash there, too. I hope that their human evasion techniques will be better by then as they will be almost a week old and 25% grown. I am also hoping that no one hurts them or their parents because of the racket they raise or because they don't understand their behavior.

Hopefully, I will see all three together, but it's unlikely. And, hopefully, there will be happy updates to come.

Birds Playing Games

I have been hearing killdeer sounds coming from one of the ballfields for about a week, but never saw the birds. Well, yesterday, I was determined to find them and went all around there looking for them. There appeared to be two of them, a male and a female. The female was playing "I'm not nesting there, I'm nesting here" with me, a game usually played by males. I don't think I've seen her before, but she does look a little familiar.

Female

The male has two very distinctive white feathers on his back. I definitely haven't seen him before. He also appears to have an injury around the cloaca, but that could be something related to mating.

Male with white patches on his back

But, what was really weird is that they seemed to be purposely teasing the squirrels in one area. They were doing a full-blown broken wing act around them, not the red-tail flashing that Little Male did with his mate yesterday. And, the squirrels were actually chasing them. But, the killdeer only ran away and not flew. I would never think a squirrel would attack a wounded bird, though I wouldn't put past them eating some eggs or chicks. It could be that the squirrel was annoyed.

"Teasing" the squirrels

I couldn't see what the squirrel was eating, but it didn't look like eggs or chicks. I walked carefully around there, even looked outside the fence area nearby and saw no eggs or chicks anywhere. The ballpark is heavily used this time of year and any nest laid inside the fenced area will be destroyed. So, I'm hoping they don't lay eggs there, but I think that they're planning to and have it set in their head that the nest is there. That could be why they were doing the broken wing act.

In another area, the ducklings that I have named the "Fish Food Ducklings" because they spent their earliest days surrounded by huge fish, possibly trying to eat them, were having their own issue. They're big now at 3 1/2 weeks old. There's a man who comes around and feeds the water birds and these ducklings try to share a spot with some American coots. But, coots are territorial and constantly chase and harass the ducklings and the mother duck. But, I think the baby coots think this is all a game. They're having fun chasing everyone around, ducklings or other birds.

Gonna get cooties!

You guys gotta leave or you're gonna get cooties

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.

Get out of my territory!

F3 being very friendly

Killdeer are about the same size as the mourning doves

M2 is making sure everything is safe

Today, I found M2 and his mate foraging in the southern part of M1's territory. He's been having a dispute with M1 over who should own this area. Today, they were eating birdseed with the doves and also feasting on the ants in the area. While observing those two, I noticed that "Little Male", M1 was sneaking up behind us.

I see you guys over there and I'm not going to tolerate this much more! (note the dark spot on his chest, it could be from fighting)

You better leave or I'm coming over there as soon as the humans are gone!

I left the area a few minutes later and within 10 minutes, I could hear the sound of two males arguing with their "kill-dee" sounds. But, M2 didn't leave just then. However, eventually, M1 won the fight and M2 was forced back into his territory without his mate. I guess she just wasn't finished feeding yet. I don't know if M1 and the female (F3) mated, but M2 was all alone in his territory for a long time, calling for her.

I miss my girlfriend

I've never seen or heard of an example of a "companion call" on any of the other websites. It's a lot like the alarm call, but shorter and softer. It's kinda like the difference between "beep" and "cheep" with the companion call being the "cheep" and a bit shorter. Poor guy, he seemed to be asking for my help in getting her back, walking up towards me, showing now fear. But, this is something he has got to deal with himself.

Whitening of feathers=aging?

M4 appears to be an old male in many ways, mainly through his behavior and demeanor. But, I've noticed that he has a lot more white feathers than the other adult birds. On his face, he still has much of the black that many males have, but he does have a LOT of white feathers there. Also, his tail, which should be mostly brown, black and orange has a lot of white, also. This is not normal as the tail is the way that males display threats not only to potential predators, but to other males and to court mates.

M4 has a lot of white around his eye, but still has a prominent black stripe running from his beak

Today, when I visited M4's territory, I noticed that his voice was very, very raspy. He can still do his high-pitched "kill-dee" call, but all his other calls sound like he has laryngitis. He could just be sick, but his over-all feather appearance and health appears good. He doesn't have any bare spots or feathers sticking out strangely--a sign that a bird is not healthy. His coat generally appears glossy, though not as glossy as the very young male, M1 ("Little Male").

M4's tail feathers have an abnormal amount of white and the red part is paler

The beautiful, young female in M4's territory seems to be gone and that could be why he spends much of his time flying around and doing territorial calls. It's very possible that he's in a lot of fights, but his feather condition doesn't indicate that, as well, except for a little scruffiness.

I can't really estimate M4's age as I have just met him this year, but killdeers have been known to live 10 or 11 years in the wild, but not usually. I would suspect him to be a minimum of six to seven years old, possibly eight or nine, but not beyond that. If I am correct about his senior status, this could be his last breeding season.

Stealing females and update on the ducklings

M2 was nowhere to be seen, but I could definitely hear him. I still haven't found his nest, but I know it's around and it's probably within sight of people as I hear him trilling and making frustrated calls. But, I haven't spotted it. I swear, though, I heard him calling and saw him landing in a tree! I've never heard of killdeer ever being in a tree, even for a moment. I will definitely be looking upward for him if I can't find him otherwise. This will be an interesting observation. The only reason why he might be in the tree was to keep track of "Little Male" and his own territory. But, I don't think that killdeer have the right kind of feet to hold onto a perch.

In the meantime, I see he's been harassing "Little Male" off and on, claiming part of his territory on M1's south side. M1 often can be heard calling back to him. Later, sometimes, M1 will go off and call over M2, M3 and M5s' territory probably hoping to lure females away from them. In the past, M2 would ignore M1's attempt to steal mates, but now that he has a mate of his own, he has gotten involved and has begun to chase M1 sometimes. The birds chased each other out of sight and I couldn't see the result of the fight. These things can take hours, so it's no use to wait it out.

Update on Ducklings

More ducklings are hatching and I have recently seen at least a dozen brand new ones in the last few days. However, the lake is being lowered and that has put many ducklings in risk of being snapped up by fish and turtles. So, just about all the ducklings between 10 days and 5 weeks old have been in hiding. I haven't seen the seven that I fed the cereal to since that day, but their parents are around and I assume they're hiding. I occasionally see the one duckling that hatched in M1's territory.

Today, I think I might have seen the two ducklings I call the "Drama Ducklings" because I wrote a photo essay about how one got away and got lost. They got lost two days later, but since then, their mom has been glued to their side. I haven't seen them in four days, but I thought I saw two small ducks swimming around the reeds in the "restricted area". They disappeared quickly. I went to where I could look into the reeds from across the bay and saw a small "cave" with mom and dad sitting in the front and it looked like two dark fluffballs sticking out of the reeds behind them. Mom was looking back often, either grooming herself or keeping an eye on her babies. But, I couldn't totally verify if there were really two ducklings there as there are also small coots and grebes nearby, too.

I may not get to see them again until they fill up the lake after the road repairs, which will be in about a month. It will be good to see how many survived. I want all of them to survive because they're so cute! However, that wouldn't work very well in nature. God (or nature if you prefer) has given ducks the ability to produce lots of eggs and young so that enough will survive to keep the species going, but at the same time provide food for other organisms as much as I don't like to think about it.

The "Drama Ducklings" at 10 days old, the last time I saw them

1 Female and 3 Males Fighting Over Her

I haven't seen the "Deets" in a while and no killdeer are in the M8 territory, lately. It's good because that area is going to be inundated with human activity starting today and going for over a month. But, Mr. Deet may be one of the three males I saw over in the M7 territory across from M4.

I usually don't go over to that side of the lake, but I just had to see what four killdeer could be doing in one spot.

One male passes the female in order to chase another male away

Here are all four together, the female is on the bottom left. Look at how large and puffed up the males' neckbands are.

The female watches the males battle it out. The two on the right were actually attacking each other. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a photo of the attacks

The male on the left ends up flying off, trying to land near me, then giving up and flying away.

The second male on the right in the bottom photo flew off with the other male and began calling, but when he returned the third male and the female were gone. He was so mad at me and began to yell warning calls even though it didn't bother him that I was standing there before.

M4 had a female in his territory

M4 had a female in his territory the other day. In this case, it was hard to tell which was male or female as the one that I thought was M4 was very calm and didn't mind me, which the killdeer I didn't know was going crazy, hiding, yelling, screaming. It's very possible that the one I thought was M4 and had posted about earlier was actually a regular female visitor to his territory. When I first got there, M4 began to hide.

Sorry for the blur on these photos.

You can't see me, but I've got my eye on you!

Equivalent to Bo Derek in 10 for killdeers. Hmm, looks suspiciously like the one I thought was M4 earlier

Females can be picky about who they mate with

OK, now that I'm way over here, I want to tell you to stop looking at my girlfriend! I think this is the real M4 because he is the one doing the territorial displays and the most yelling, but I could have them reversed.

This was the only killdeer I saw the next time, making territorial calls, but acting like good old Mr. Cool this time. Looks like he's been roughed up a bit.

I don't know what happened to the female after that as it's been a couple of days and I haven't seen her.

Scandal at the lake! Little Male's mate--Stolen?

I decided to go to Lake Murray this morning to check up on all the birds I have been keeping tabs of. I found my little lost duckling and sibling had found their mom and were being as adorable as ever. I also found several brand new hatchlings swimming around the lake. M2 (Second Male) was back on the other side of the bay getting really upset over something, probably all the people around.

But, when I went to check on "Little Male's" (M1) territory to see how he and his new mate was doing, I found it empty save some ducks and ducklings. The water level was a lot lower and I was able to walk around, but no sign of him. I thought I heard him on the other side of the lake, so I went over there and could not find him. I also heard 4th male (M4) yelling back at them.

Then, I could hear the sound of three killdeers screaming back over near the dam and the water treatment plant. One of them was M2 reacting to two male killdeers "yelling it out" over near 3rd Male (M3)'s territory. Now, I haven't talked much about M3 and his female, F1 because I haven't gotten any good pictures of them, yet. (You can see some in the "spot the killdeer" game a few posts back). They have their territory over by the dam, but were originally "arguing" with M1 about his territory when M1 was still a new adult before moving to that other area where they are now. There is one, possibly two more males with territories on the lake: 5th Male (M5) that has his territory where the treatment plant is and I can't really observe him and a possible 6th male (M6) on the opposite side of the lake past the fence near the dam. There may be another male or two near the ballfields on the north side of the lake. Most of the fight was over M3's territory, ocassionally flying back toward M1's territory.

I couldn't confirm that it was M1 and M3, but I could tell it was two males and they were fighting (making "swipes" at each other). At first, I thought it might be a "marriage flight" between M3 and F1, but the more I watched, the more it looked like it was two fighting males. It could also be a "duel" to impress the female in the area and show off their fitness.

It's entirely possible that F2 is, in fact F1 and she may have had her head turned by the young M1 and was seriously checking out his nest site. However, she might not have liked the close proximaty of his territory to people and dogs and went back to where there were fewer people around. Being the love-struck teenager that M1 is, he will not let her go that easy. I watched the arguing for about an hour and it looked like the older M3 was getting tired, but not giving up, either. I could not get a visual lock on where F2 was.

Another theory could be that the other bird screaming a territorial call that I wrote about a couple of posts back was, indeed M3 calling back his mate to his territory. I thought it was a bold move for M2 to claim part of M1's territory so soon, but it makes more sense that it was M3 challenging "Little Male" to a fight and demanding his "wife" back.

I will check up on them in a few days. I am concerned if M1 wins the fight that he may take over that territory and I may never see him again (or have a lot of difficulty doing so). I seriously doubt that the older, more experienced M3 will let him do that. In a way, M3's territory will be much safer for any nests and chicks than M1's and it will be better if he's sucessful.

I've got one more thing to say: WILL SOMEONE PLEASE LAY SOME EGGS AND RAISE SOME HEALTHY CHICKS!!!!

4th of July is coming and I don't want any trampled nests.

"Little Male" takes a mate

"Little Male" (to be known as 1st Male, Male1 or M1) has taken a mate and selected a nesting site. He is very aggressive in defending that site and his mate. He doesn't want me to pay any attention to her at all and will fly around, yelling, if I look her way. (I think he was also trying to impress her with his "protection skills") I call the female Female2 or F2 because she's the second female I've seen this season.

"Little Male" (M1) and his mate (F2)

F2 heads down into the water under M1's protection

F2 is keeping her eye on me

I think I know where he's going to put his nest because he gets really excited if I walk near that spot and comes up to me really close (less than 10 feet away) or flies up near me and then runs or flies away. It's in an area that is not accessed by people that much, but still accessible to humans and their dogs. Hopefully, no one will mess with their nest or chicks. I plan to "nest watch" only on the less busy days so as not to draw too much attention to me going into that area and all the noise that they will make when I do.

I saw a hawk drop down in that area and start walking around the lake shore. Both M1 and F2 mobbed it, flying around, screaming, diving at it. I thought that maybe it was after some eggs or chicks, but there weren't any. It was probably looking for something like that, though. Those two potential parents didn't let it stay in peace.

Meanwhile, "Second Male" (Male2 or M2) has taken over part of "Little Male's" former territory on the other side of the lake. Since M1 has a mate and has become more defensive, he makes a lot more noise to which M2 responds to very loudly, even flying over the area proclaiming it as his own. M1 seems to be staying only on the one side of the lake, probably to better defend the possible nesting site.

"Second Male", M2 flies over his new portion of his territory, yelling his proclamation