Dan,

Were the Killdeers crying "kill-deer, kill-deer, kill-deer," or some other sounds? If the former, that is their song, and one or more of the birds may have just been performing the spring fight display, which would be right on time. There might have been some competition between a mated pair and another pair or single birds. "Distress" calls would only be on the breeding grounds when they had eggs or young, and I don't know why they would be giving them at 70-100 feet in the air. They do give flight calls ('tiree, tiree,' sometimes prolonged into a trill) when they take off like most other shorebirds. Flying that high is typical of breeding displays, and I think they will do that at night. At least they commonly fly around at night, and they also have social interactions at that time.

Having said all that from my own experience, I then looked at the Birds of North America account on this species, and what they wrote is completely at odds with this. They said 'killdeer' was an alarm or flight call (along with many other calls), and they said nothing at all about courtship/display flights (often called "butterfly flights," as the wingbeats are much slower than in normal flight), which I have seen every year since I moved to Seattle. I can't imagine they wouldn't know about those flights, typical of most plovers, and I wonder if they just forgot to include that information! I'm going to check some of the original literature on Killdeer breeding when I get a chance.

I have no idea what to think about the crow unless it was somehow flushed and was trying to locate a mate or other crows. Maybe it just decided to bug you.

Dennis


On Apr 9, 2011, at 2:17 PM, notcalm at comcast.net wrote:

> Dennis,
>
> This is really puzzling to me. I was not a factor in flushing the birds in either situation. Perhaps I am just more aware of bird behavior then in the past. Any ideas?
> By the way- the Owlet I saw take, what I believe was first flight was at Nisqually. Very neat.
>
> Thanks,
> Dan
> ----- Forwarded Message -----
> From: notcalm at comcast.net
> To: "Tweeters" <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Sent: Friday, April 8, 2011 10:02:58 PM
> Subject: Unusual bird behavior at night
>
> Hello Tweeters,
>
> I observed two unusual bird behaviors, Tuesday and this evening, Friday. Have any of you seen anything like this in past years or recently?
>
> Tuesday evening at 8:55- 9:05PM, Community Center at Mercerview, I ( and others) saw and heard, calling loudly- apparent distress calls, two, then three Killdeer flying in circles over the parking lot at about 70-100 feet. The next day I talked to someone that had been sitting outside at the same location before I walked into the parking lot. They stated that five birds were calling and flying in circles above the parking lot, with some diving behavior.
>
> This evening, when leaving work at 8:25 PM, I heard a group of crows calling after dark. When I arrived home, I was standing in my driveway with my dog, when a single Crow began calling loudly and flew over our neighborhood at 125-150 feet and began flying in circles and continued a distress call- (9:20- 9:28 PM). I have never seen a crow do this.
>
> So my immediate speculation was predators- perhaps a Barred owl had startled the Crow or a dog the Killdeer. In the case of the Killdeer, perhaps migrating birds had disturbed the resident pair at the community center which responded by taking flight. Or perhaps some Seismic activity- however unlikely. I have no idea as I have never seen or heard birds do this at night.
>
> Anyone wish to share or inform?
>
> Thanks,
> Dan
>
>
>

-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382
dennispaulson at comcast.net



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