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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Bird Eggs Incognito...

Nesting Au Natural...
Killdeer love to nest in the gravel...
They will use a depression in the gravel to place their eggs.  Sometimes they ring the nest with smaller stones. The eggs themselves can look like stones. Hard to see they blend into the gravel.
The females lay four eggs over a period of a week...
The Killdeer are considered Shore birds, but often live far from water.
The first three photos were taken last week in our graveled driveway. 
(Near the front pond)
The 4th picture was taken a few years ago in our driveway, near the house.
Don't be tempted to move the eggs. The parents are never too far away. These birds nest on the ground, not in birdhouses or trees. The parents take turns sitting on the eggs, for about a week. They will make a high pitched chirping noise alerting danger if you get too close. The babies are born with their eyes open and come out of the shell... running!  (*We usually set up some sort of an obstacle to avert cars from running over the top of the nest. Such as a chair, horseshoes, boards, PVC pipe, what ever is handy!)
The nest...a clever disguise with a designer look...
Nesting with Style...

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