Pl. XIX
The Birds · Plate XIX
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
Charadriidae · Taxon 4793
| Length | 20–28 cm (7.9–11.0 in) |
| Wingspan | 46–48 cm (18.1–18.9 in) |
| Weight | 75–128 g (2.6–4.5 oz) |
Field marks
- Slender plover with a large round head, large dark eye, short straight dark bill, and long legs.
- Brownish-tan upperparts with warm rufous edging; clean white underparts.
- Two bold black bands cross the white breast of adults.
- Face is patterned in brown, black, and white, with a white forehead and eyebrow stripe.
- Long pointed tail and long narrow wings; orange-buff rump and tail base show conspicuously in flight.
HabitatOpen ground with low or no vegetation: fields, pastures, lawns, gravel, bare soil, mudflats, shorelines, sandbars, and other sparsely vegetated open spaces.
BehaviorForages with a run-stop-peck rhythm on open ground; gives a loud, insistent kill-dee call and may perform a broken-wing distraction display near a nest.
Palette
brownish tanrufous orange-buffwhiteblackslate gray