OTHER NAMES: N/A
Latin Etymology: Charadrius (from the Vulgate Bible) vociferus ("vocal")
Adult Killdeer (subspecies C. v. vociferus) at Berkeley, California - August 2022
Featured Subspecies: Charadrius vociferus vociferus
Weight: 72-121g / Length: 20-28cm / Wingspan: 59-63cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern
I must admit that when I first heard the name "killdeer", I was trying to work out precisely how a tiny plover would kill a deer? But in fact this species gets its name from its call with which it is most usually first detected. Relative to other "ringed" type plovers which tend to be closely associated with water, the killdeer breeds on flat open land with low lying vegetation, and even occassionally on the roofs of buildings!
Related Species:
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadridae
Genus: Charadrius
SUBSPECIES: C. v. vociferus, C. v. ternominatus, C. v. peruvianus
- Sighting Locations -
An extremely widely distributed species, resident in much of the Lower 48, and breeding in the majority of the rest and into Alaska.
- CALIFORNIA 2022 TRIP: Seen at Berkeley, Monterey and Hayward
Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto
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