Killdeer are another species of bird that lots of folks are probably unaware of though, like I keep saying with so much else, they are very common throughout Toronto (except during winter). They can be found near most shorelines and rivers and sometimes even supermarket parking lots. They're easy to zero in on because you can hear them making a little peep sound which is what gives them their name. No, they don't kill deer, and no the sound doesn't sound like 'kill-deer' to me, but that's how it is.
Because I spend far too much time looking at myself in the mirror I thought this killdeer was trying to mate with me...but in fact this is a 'broken wing' display performed when a bird feels a potential predator is getting too close to their nest. The idea is to look as vulnerable as possible so the predator will be distracted away from the nest and chase the wounded bird. It doesn't seem like a great strategy to me, however, an adult bird certainly has a better chance of escaping a predator than an egg does. I should note that this time everyone survived quite happily.
