Killdeer
Videos
The killdeer is a large plover found in the Americas. Its shrill, two-syllable call is often heard, sounding like "kill deer". It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Li
In flight
The subspecies C. v. ternominatus in Cuba
Copulation
A female on a nest in Pennsylvania
Anti-predator adaptation
Videos
Anti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved fo
Killdeer
…because of increased insect abundance and reduced predation during the night. Predators of the killdeer include various birds and mammals. Its multiple responses to predation range from calling to the "ungulate display", which can be fatal for the performing individual. The killdeer was formerly considered a least-concern…
Anti-predator adaptation in action: the kitefin shark (a–c) and the Atlantic wreckfish (d–f) attempt to prey on hagfishes. First, the predators approach their potential prey. Predators bite or try to swallow the hagfishes, but the hagfishes have already projected jets of slime (arrows) into the predators' mouths. Choking, the predators release the hagfishes and gag in an attempt to remove slime from their mouths and gill chambers.
Fruit bats forage by night to avoid predators.
Camouflage illustrated by the flat-tail horned lizard, its flattened, fringed and disruptively patterned body eliminating shadow
Kallima inachus masquerading as a dead leaf