Unlimited edition. 18 x 24 inch, museum-quality poster on matte paper.

The first time I remember encountering a killdeer, the bird pulled off the performance it’s best known for. I pursued the injured bird fifty-plus yards down a clamshell driveway; a broken wing hung limply at its side and it cried out plaintively. If I could just catch it, I thought, our local wildlife rehabilitator could wave his magic wand. Suddenly, the bird jumped into the air and flew, seemingly uninjured, back from whence we’d come. When I told my dad about the baffling experience, he chuckled and explained I’d been had by a killdeer.

Because these boldly-marked shorebirds nest on the ground, they have some fascinating adaptations and behaviors to reduce egg predation, including:

• their remarkably camouflaged eggs blend in with rocky substrate

• the oil with which they preen themselves becomes odorless during the nesting season so that predators won’t smell them as they sit on the nest

• should a potential threat approach the nest, the adult birds will pretend to be crippled in the hopes of luring a predator (after easy prey) out of the area.

Note: These archival poster prints feature rich, appealing colors. I encourage customers to take care in handling them until they are framed/protected for display; the darker colors on the matte paper can be scratched. They ship rolled, so customers need to flatten them before framing (or have their framer do so).

Charitable Sales Model: Whenever one of these poster prints is purchased, a charitable contribution equal to 10% of the print’s cost (or $3.60) is made to a nonprofit working to tackle environmental or social challenges. Read more about my charitable sales model here.