I've seen the broken wing act. I was walking along a lake once when I saw this poor bird with a broken wing. Then I remembered reading about the behavior, so I looked around and found the nest, right between my feet.
ksplawn · 5 June 2012
Scott F said:
ksplawn said:
My dog loves to chase plover like these at the park. I've never seen any put on the "broken wing" act, though.
The killdeer population in the park doesn't seem to be too broken up over it. All the open or sports fields are thick with them despite decades of people letting their dogs run around off-leash when they can get away with it. In fact they've gotten more numerous in recent years since some of the trees were taken down and new softball diamonds put in; more places for them to forage.
He also likes to lunge at the Muscovy ducks around the pond, which I admit to not being personally broken up over.
KlausH · 6 June 2012
Mit Jobs said:
I really want to see this bird and examine it. I am curious about its behavior and how it, as other commentators have said in the post, drags its wings. Is it a defense tactic? Or is it just lazy to keep its wings in place?
http://www.mitprof.com
Kildeers are noisy birds, going "FaWeet" all the time. They are actually shore birds and nest on the ground, or flat rooftops. They generally use the broken wing act to lure intruders away from their eggs.
Matt Young · 7 June 2012
As far as I can tell, Mit Jobs was actually a spam comment - they are getting better all the time.
shebardigan · 9 June 2012
Matt Young said:
As far as I can tell, Mit Jobs was actually a spam comment - they are getting better all the time.
They are, indeed. My day job involves thwacking these thieves, mostly in the email domain.
Viewing the history of this conflict from a safe distance, it is obviously Evolution In Action: measures engender counter-measures.
shebardigan · 9 June 2012
s/thieves/cowbirds/g
Dave Luckett · 10 June 2012
It's not botspam - it isn't generic enough. This actually fits the thread, but doesn't simply repeat words and phrases from previous posts, either. There's a human on the other end, I think, someone in a boilerroom somewhere in the third world, most likely, who's being paid fifty cents per hundred posts to put linkspam into fairly high-traffic blogs.
13 Comments
Flint · 4 June 2012
They're not kidding about the vociferus part, either.
Karen S. · 4 June 2012
Look at those huge eyes!
KlausH · 4 June 2012
Why isn't it dragging its wing?
Also, does anyone else think plover feet look funny when they run?
ksplawn · 4 June 2012
My dog loves to chase plover like these at the park. I've never seen any put on the "broken wing" act, though.
apokryltaros · 4 June 2012
Scott F · 4 June 2012
Peter · 5 June 2012
I've seen the broken wing act. I was walking along a lake once when I saw this poor bird with a broken wing. Then I remembered reading about the behavior, so I looked around and found the nest, right between my feet.
ksplawn · 5 June 2012
KlausH · 6 June 2012
Matt Young · 7 June 2012
As far as I can tell, Mit Jobs was actually a spam comment - they are getting better all the time.
shebardigan · 9 June 2012
shebardigan · 9 June 2012
s/thieves/cowbirds/g
Dave Luckett · 10 June 2012
It's not botspam - it isn't generic enough. This actually fits the thread, but doesn't simply repeat words and phrases from previous posts, either. There's a human on the other end, I think, someone in a boilerroom somewhere in the third world, most likely, who's being paid fifty cents per hundred posts to put linkspam into fairly high-traffic blogs.