Killdeer Charadrius vociferus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 8 inches
• Medium-sized, long-winged shorebird
• Short, fairly thick dark bill
• Legs flesh-colored
• Red eye ring
• White forehead and white stripe behind eye
• Brown face; black lores and upper borders to the white forehead and collar
• White collar
• Brown cap, back and wings
• White breast and belly
• Two black breast bands
• White wing stripe at the bases of the flight feathers is visible in flight
• Rust-red rump
• Brown tail with black subterminal band, white terminal band and barred, white outer tail feathers
• Tail extends beyond wing tips at rest
• Sexes similar
• Juveniles similar to adult

Similar species:

All other plovers lack the two black breastbands. Very young Killdeer have a single breastband and could be confused with Piping, Wilson's, Snowy or Semipalmated Plovers, but are usually still downy, have black bills (any Piping or Semipalmated Plover having a breastband will also have an orange bill with a black tip), and are colored above like the adult (eliminating the paler Piping and Snowy).

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.