Killdeer Nesting and Calling

Video: Killdeer Nesting and Calling

Killdeer nesting and calling. This is classic windswept habitat for Killdeers - they are really hard to see against brown dirt and gravel and their nests are just depressions scraped into the ground.

Killdeer Charadrius vociferus

When not on the nest Killdeers are conspicuous and noisy,

hence, the specific name, vociferus. Like the Wilson's Plover, the broken-wing distraction display is highly developed in Killdeers and readily confirms breeding. The Killdeer breeds from Newfoundland, the south rim of Hudson Bay, and the southern Yukon and Northwest Territories south to central Mexico and the Gulf coast.

Habitat. The Killdeer inhabits both brackish and freshwater habitats and is perfectly at home in upland situations far from water. It prefers open areas with short or sparse vegetation, such as pastures, golf courses, airports, and extensive lawns. Killdeers will also nest on gravel parking lots and on rooftops. Food of the Killdeer consists of beetles and other insects and invertebrates, including arachnids, worms, snails, and crustaceans. The nest of the Killdeer is a shallow scrape, usually in bare sand or gravel, but occasionally among sparse vegetation. Four buffy eggs with black, brown, and gray markings are laid. The cryptic color of the eggs, adults and chicks enables them to avoid detection by predators. Incubation is performed by both sexes and takes 24 to 28 days. The young are precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching. They are usually accompanied by the parents until fledging at about 25 days (Ehrlich et al. 1988). Rooftop nesting can present a problem to Killdeer chicks because they must leave the roof to obtain food on the ground. Apparently they are successful at negotiating this, however, because Killdeers return to the same rooftop year after year.

Seasonal Occurrence. Most breeding occurs March through July. Fall migrants swell the Florida population Ju

through November, and spring migration occurs primarily in March and April. http://legacy.myfwc.com/bba/docs/bba_KILL.pdf

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Video: Killdeer Nesting and Calling

Great Blue Herons Nesting in Florida

Video: Great Blue Herons Nesting

Beautiful mating pair of Great Blue Herons building their nest in central Florida. The largest Heron in North America standing over 4 feet tall - they are always exciting to capture especially in their spectacular breeding/mating plumage. This early stage of nest building the male brings small sticks to the female to build the base and they spend a lot of time, as in this video, bonding!

Male Great Blue Herons collect much of the nest material, gathering sticks from the ground and nearby shrubs and trees, and from unguarded and abandoned nests, and presenting them to the female. She weaves a platform and a saucer-shaped nest cup, lining it with pine needles, moss, reeds, dry grass, mangrove leaves, or small twigs. Nest building can take from 3 days up to 2 weeks; the finished nest can range from a simple platform measuring 20 inches across to more elaborate structures used over multiple years, reaching 4 feet across and nearly 3.5 feet deep. Ground-nesting herons use vegetation such as salt grass to form the nest.

Great Blue Herons nest mainly in trees, but will also nest on the ground, on bushes, in mangroves, and on structures such as duck blinds, channel markers, or artificial nest platforms. Males arrive at the colony and settle on nest sites; from there, they court passing females. Colonies can consist of 500 or more individual nests, with multiple nests per tree built 100 or more feet off the ground.

Nesting Facts

Clutch Size 2–6 eggs

Number of Broods 1-2 broods

Egg Length 2.4–3 in 

Egg Width 1.8–2 in 

Incubation Period 27–29 days

Nestling Period 49–81 days

Egg Description Pale blue, fading slightly with age.

Condition at Hatching Bluish eyes open, chick covered in pale gray down, able to vocalize.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory

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Video: Great Blue Herons Nesting