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Killdeer begins diversionary display
A mother killdeer exhibiting paratrepsis, a form of distraction and diversionary behaviour.
She raises her wing, then walks away from the nest dragging it to her side as if injured, in the hopes the potential predator (me!), will follow her as an easy meal instead of taking the eggs/chicks. Then if needed, she takes off in to the air for a safe escape.
One of her little eggs can be seen poking out from beneath her chest.
The Killdeer is a medium-sized plover. The adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. The eyering orange-red. The chicks are patterned almost identically to the adults, and are precocial — able to move around immediately after hatching. The Killdeer frequently uses a "broken wing act" to distract predators from the nest.
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