Hello All,

Just wanted to share an interesting observation I made this last week while on the job. I was walking along the Touchet River in an open area carpeted with salt grass and tight bunches of creosote bushes that stood about a meter and a half high. Out in the salt grass carpet were several shallow burrows created by badgers or coyotes digging out rodents over the last few weeks. As I approached one of these excavations and its pile of soil I heard an odd noise emanating from down in the burrow that I did not recognize. It could have been rodent or an insect. So I walked around this burrow staying about twenty-five feet away as I continued to hear this strange call coming from the burrow. Slowly I moved in from the down wind side. Just as I was getting near the burrow a shadow shot over me. I looked up only to see a lone adult Black-billed Magpie land on top of a near by creosote bush. I now got down on my hands and knees and crawled closer to the burrow opening. Then it dawned on me that whatever was down in that burrow was now in danger of being predated as I was being watched by a magpie. A bird so intelligent that it thinks circles around many humans. So I backed off and decided to wait out the magpie and test his span of attention and interest in what I was doing. As I sat down I heard a call that was almost familiar, but not right on. After a few minutes the magpie seemingly lost interest in what I was doing and drifted off to the east over the Touchet River. I now crawled back towards the burrow entrance and quietly looked down into it. Just as I was making out what the animal was down in the dark hole a very loud calling Killdeer swooped in and ordered me away from this site. I got up and walked away some fifty feet and watched the site. The defending Killdeer now circled on foot the burrow entrance calling constantly. From somewhere deep in the ground came a now very familiar call. Soon an adult Killdeer emerged from the burrow slightly dusted, but no worse for ware. I was stunned as this adult female moved closer to the loudly calling male bird. Then I was blown away when out of nowhere the magpie re-appeared and in an instant the adult female shot back down into the burrow with no hesitation. This was a first for me. Has anyone else ever heard of Killdeer nesting in an underground burrow? I apparently did not recognize the calls coming from underground as they were distorted by the burrow. While crawling back to the burrow I apparently pulled my leg, hopefully not yours.

Thanks Mike Denny

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Mike & MerryLynn Denny
Birding the beautiful Walla Walla Valley

"If you haven't birded, you haven't lived"