A Killdeer Family Encounter Along Monterey Bay

The Killdeer is a very common bird in North America and they are seen often in open spaces. It was not at all unusual to find some very near the ocean along the Monterey Bay shore. Wikipedia has a very complete summary of Killdeer information here. It is a good reference.

We were out a few days ago, sitting at a quiet spot near the Bay and soon observed an adult Killdeer in the nearby dried ground cover  - with the Killdeer colors blending nicely into the background (recently sprayed we think as it is non-native and very invasive).

The lone adult posed for a while giving us a good opportunity to record his relatively quiet behavior even though we were very close.

 

 

The quiet scene soon came to life as we observed the adult pictured above watching a newly hatched chick as it was exploring the sandy beach nearby. The chick was very active; running rapidly a few steps then stopping to observe the surroundings - all under the watchful eye of the adult.

At about this time, a Crow flew over after apparently noticing the chick and began to get too close. The adult Killdeer immediately took flight - chasing the Crow. The single adult Killdeer was joined by two other adults who continued harassing the Crow until he flew off. 

Then something very unusual happened. There were three adult Killdeer on the beach directly in front of us. The chick had run further away and was out of sight.

The encounter didn't look exactly friendly and there was no apparent celebration of having chased off the invading Crow. The dynamics were unusual and began to change rapidly. The two Killdeer at the rear of this shot began fighting. Was this some form of mating display, a territorial dispute or a family feud? We'll never know.

A few seconds later the fighting grew more intense as one male (we assume) took a large chunk of feathers out of the other male while the third Killdeer looked on. The fighting continued for only a minute or two and soon there seemed to be a stand-off between the two adversaries.

Then, the chick returned back across the exposed beach towards a more protected area in the scrub growth. The two adults continued sparring a while longer until one flew off. The scene was calm again as the new chick continued exploring his surroundings - apparently totally unaware of the recent adult fighting. 

We returned to this spot a few days later and saw no evidence of the Killdeer family. Life goes on in the wild in ways that we simply don't fully understand. The encounter we observed was a moment in the life of a Killdeer family - the next chapter in that family life will remain unknown.