BIOL 1902 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Altricial, Canada Goose, Siblicide
21 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Killdeer have disruptive patterns to help them background match when they are being cryptic on their nests. When a predator approaches the nest, the bird will stay completely still until the predator is a certain distance from the nest. It will then get up and act like it has a broken wing to simulate an injury. It flops its wing as if it had a broken wing and cries as if in agony. When the predator come nearer to pounce on it, the killdeer will fly a short distance and land again and continue the broken wing act. It does this repeatedly, leading the predator farther and farther away from the nest. The bright colouration on their tail feathers simulate a real injury. These displays are a type of feigned injury displays also called broken wing act because it pretends that it has a broken wing.
