Killdeer Babies!

On the morning of May 9th we heard lots of chattering from the killdeer parents nesting in our driveway and upon investigation discovered the cutest little fluff ball ever! Within 30 minutes of hatching, this little killdeer started running around. A bit wobbly at first, but pretty gosh darn great for just coming out of an egg!

Oh my cuteness!

Not long after the first fledgling began running around we noticed another hatchling tucked under the parent. We aren't sure who is Mom and who is Dad, but we saw them switch places a couple of times. Team work!

Hatching day saw temperatures in the high 80s, which is very hot for central Ohio in spring. The babies kept tucking under the parent to remain cool and the adult killdeer sat with her/his back to the sun while panting heavily to stay cool.

Both parents were very involved the entire time.

Not 20' feet from all this action on the top of our barn door is a nesting robin. She maintained a watchful eye on the birds and us.

By evening on May 9, all birds minus the one unhatched egg left the nest. (We investigated this egg the next day and the little bird had started to peck its way out. We aren't sure what happened to stop the process and have many speculations, but we will never know.) While taking one of our daily tours we heard the killdeer in the farm field behind us and unknowingly got too close to the babies. One of the parents worked to get us away from them by flashing its bright tail feathers and doing a broken wing display. We moved away and everyone calmed down....

and then we got to see this:

This was our last visit with this killdeer family before they headed out to the farm field to learn how to find food and survive. We still hear the parents communicating and wish them well with each call. What a gift to our spirits and return-on-investment for the wildlife habitat we've created!