Killdeer Distraction Display - Protecting Her Eggs

I took this video up north during fishing opener 05/2011. She had laid her eggs near where the boat trailer was parked, and we discovered them as we were moving the trailer. No eggs were destroyed, nor were any animals injured in the making of this video.

Quoted from Wikipedia:

These birds will frequently use a distraction display ("broken-wing act") to distract predators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators then think they have easy prey and are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, they will move closer and get louder until they get the attention of the predator. This is repeated until the predator is far from the nest, and the killdeer suddenly "heals" and flies away.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• killdeer
• bird
• birds
• nature
• egg
• eggs
• protecting eggs
• killdeer broken wing
• distraction
• act