Okay folks, it’s that time of year again. Time to dust off those listening skills, turn an ear toward the trees (and tall grasses, fence posts and reeds) and play a rousing round of our favorite springtime game, Name That Tune: The Nature Edition.
As the days get longer, and warmer, all kinds of critters will be reciting their species specific songs and calls—unique declarations that, if we were able to translate, would sound something like, “Hey sweetie, I’m over here!” and, “Yo, buddy, get offa my branch!” (Or rail, or cattail…)
Any day now we’re going to start hearing the calls of chorus frogs and spring peepers from area wetlands. We’ve also already begun to hear from several bird species, including chickadees, cardinals and the recently returned red-winged blackbirds. As the weeks and months progress, we’ll start hearing from more migratory birds; then, when summer is in high gear, the insect songsters begin their buzzes and trills.
What makes this game really fun is that it changes throughout the seasons. You’re not going to hear song sparrows singing in September, or katydids crooning in May.
The other fun aspect, at least for birds sounds, are the words that humans supply to help keep track of who’s singing what. The song of the great horned owl, for example, is commonly written out as “Who’s awake? Me too!”
Which brings us to this week’s Name That Tune entry. It’s been awhile since we’ve heard it, but I’ll wager that most people will be able to guess it in, oh, let’s say two notes. Ready, set… Here goes:
“Kill-deer!”
Did you guess killdeer? Yay!
Though I have yet to see him, I heard my first killdeer of the season on Tuesday. These medium-sized birds, members of the plover family, are famous for their namesake song—and for their propensity for repeating it over and over. And over.
Males typically sing from the air while circling over their territories, repeating the two notes ad nauseum. In fact, the killdeer’s scientific name, Charadrius vociferus, means noisy plover.
Listen for killdeer whenever you’re in or near an open space. Whether it’s a natural area or farmland, a parking lot or even an industrial area with lots of gravel roofs, chances are there’ll be a killdeer nearby. For the last few years we’ve had one nest behind the Pottawatomie Community Center in St. Charles; the one I heard this past week was circling above the rain gardens in front of our new building, the Hickory Knolls Discovery Center.
Besides listening for killdeer, you can try and look for them too. What you’ll see is a bird that looks like it belongs on a beach—which makes sense, since plovers for the most part are shorebirds.
Killdeer are brown on top and white underneath, with two characteristic black bands across their throat and chest. They also have longish legs which they use to scurry across the ground and chase after their insect prey.
If you happen to disturb a nesting killdeer, you may lucky enough to see another of this bird’s fine qualities: its acting ability. Mom and Dad Killdeer both are adept at feigning injury, that is, scuttling about with one wing dragging, theatrics designed to lure predators away from the nest. Killdeer also will pretend to sit on a nest that is some distance from where the actual nest lies, then dart to another spot and plop down again. After several rounds of running and plopping, people and predators both can get confused as to where the actual nest is.
Hmm. All this feigning, scurrying and plopping reminds me, it might be time to blow the dust off another favorite naturalist party game—Charades: The Nature Edition.
Ready, set…
Pam Otto is the manager of nature programs and interpretive services for the St. Charles Park District. She can be reached at potto@stcparks.org or 630-513-4346.