The Killdeer or some call them a Sand Lapper in S.C.
The babies just hatched and will run right up to you. My son brought one in from the field to get his pic made and then returned the bird back to it's momma.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/24625/killdeer.jpg)
This pic is from the Internet
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/24625/DSCN0308.JPG)
Paul named him or her "FUZZY".
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/24625/DSCN0309.JPG)
They're really a friendly bird, lots of them around here too.
The little hatchlings are comical to watch . They are so tiny they can hid in new mown grass .If you look down at them you see two little eyes looking up at you .Mean while momma bird is doing the broken wing act .
they look like a marshmellow with 2 toothpicks stuck on the bottom :D
Quote from: red oaks lumber on June 27, 2012, 10:13:05 PM
they look like a marshmellow with 2 toothpicks stuck on the bottom :D
:D :D :D They run around like they're on stilts. :D :D :D
We don't have quite so many around here. I'd say they're kind of rare. I've never had any come running up to me before. I've heard them called sandpipers, but maybe that's a mistake. That could be a different bird, and we just don't know any better.
There's a few around here in Iowa.. not many. The cold winters USUALLY keep out of the state.
They're are called killdeere but I might be spelling it wrong. They lay eggs on bare ground. They look like little stones. And they are famous for doing that broken wing act to lure you away from the nest and babies. We have lots of em here in NY and one pair nest by our wood chip piles each year.
I had a nest of them last year in out blueberry field. there was a bit of bare ground for her to nest on,all that she needed. She pulled the broken wing trick on me. I knew the nest was close. took me a few days to find it. I marked it with a fiberglass fence post so we would not mow over it. I never did see the babies hatch. My dog,or fox,coon,ect could of found it too.
We have robins leaving the nest now. Just this morning I pulled one from my dogs mouth. Momma bird was fussing at us from a nearby tree. I went looking for it later, but he must have hopped to the neighbor's yard.
We get them by the hundreds (if not thousands) on about every place we farm, they're comical to watch from the tractor and the little babies will run right up to you when you try to move them out of the way.
We have them here to, but their numbers are way down. They tend to nest on plowed or worked fields. So, many nest get destroyed and the sprays probably don't help. I know foxes get a lot, and foxes are rather thick around here. We always used to farm around them. Some fields could have 5 or 6 nests. A most welcomed call in the spring time. As kids we used to catch them to. Sometimes you could catch a young adult to.