Species: Charadrius vociferus

Killdeer

Species

Birds

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Species of concern in the Salish Sea

Salish Sea-reliant birds

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Plumage brown above, white below, with a black double breast band. Wing has broad white stripe. Rump and tail rufous; tailtip black with white terminal band. Average length 27 cm, 61 cm.

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Charadriidae

Genus

Charadrius

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101693

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Chorlo Tildío, Chorlo Gritón - pluvier kildir

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Shorebirds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Charadriiformes - Charadriidae - Charadrius

Ecology and Life History

Plumage brown above, white below, with a black double breast band. Wing has broad white stripe. Rump and tail rufous; tailtip black with white terminal band. Average length 27 cm, 61 cm.

Migration

true - true - true - This species is described as a medium distance partial migrant, but its seasonal movements are complex and not well understood (Jackson and Jackson 2000). Migrants arrive in northernmost breeding areas in March-April, depart by September-October (Bent 1929). In Puerto Rico, resident populations are augmented by North American migrants fall-spring (Raffaele 1983). Migrants arrive in Costa Rica in late August-September, depart in April-May (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

Diet includes small invertebrates obtained from ground surface, sometimes in shallow water (Terres 1980).`

Reproduction Comments

Nesting phenology varies geographically, with egg laying beginning in March in the southern United States and in April in the north. First clutches are laid around early March in Mississippi, mid-March in North Carolina and Maryland, late March in Pennsylvania, mid- to late March in northeastern California, mid-April in Washington State and Minnesota, and late April in northern Michigan. Active nests may be found as late as July in the north, and late summer and fall nesting sometimes occurs in the southern United States. Clutch size is 3-5 (usually 4). Incubation averages 24-30 days, by both sexes (female may desert second clutch in some areas). Young are tended by both parents, first fly at about 25 days. Sometimes a female produces two broods in a single season. Both sexes may breed at an age of one year. In hot conditions, adult killdeer sometimes dip their breast-feathers in water, return to the nest, and apply the water to the eggs. Presumably this cools the eggs through conduction and evaporation.

Ecology Comments

Nesting density in several different areas was 13-30 pairs per hectare. Relatively isolated nesting of single pairs also occurs.

Length

Weight

101

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2009-03-17

Global Status Last Changed

1996-11-25

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Nesting range extends from eastern Alaska east across Canada (through northern Saskatchewan and southern Hudson Bay region) to Newfoundland, south to southern Baja California, central Mexico, Gulf of Mexico coast of the southeastern United States, southern Florida, West Indies, and, disjunctly, in Costa Rica and western South America (coastal Peru, extreme northwestern Chile, and southwestern Ecuador) (Stiles and Skutch 1989, AOU 1998, Jackson and Jackson 2000). During the northern winter, the range extends from southeastern Alaska (rarely), southern British Columbia, central United States, and New England south to the West Indies and northern South America (west of Andes to western Ecuador and east to northern Venezuela, and in the breeding range in Peru and Chile). This species sometimes shows up in Europe, Hawaii, and elsewhere outside the primary range.

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.101693