Not a warm and fuzzy story: The killdeer that chose to nest on gravel next to a
business parking lot didn't fair that well in Aloha, not far from Costco. The
babies kept hiding under parked-car tires, and the poor little things got
crushed by unknowing drivers. At Warren School near my home in Columbia County,
a killdeer family nested in gravel, but when the babies, just hours old, were
taken by their parents to forage on the bright green lawn, they were highly
visible to crows. The youngsters lasted less than a day. Another year at the
same site one chick actually survived somehow. No killdeer have nested at
Warren School in the past few years, although they seem to do well along rural
roads with ditches and unkempt gravelly borders. They also do OK within a
couple of feet to busy railroad tracks.
Lona Pierce
