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From: donnak@sco.COM (Donna Karolchik)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Killdeer question
Keywords: killdeer
Message-ID: <9445@scolex.sco.COM>
Date: 6 Jan 91 04:57:39 GMT
Sender: news@sco.COM
Distribution: na
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Lines: 20


I've been reading all the postings about hummers in CA which 
are perhaps pretty hungry after our recent frigid weather.
That prompted me to post a question about another possible
result of the cold weather. In Santa Cruz it seems that all
the killdeer have totally wigged out...they appear to be
hanging out in people's yards, walking down the middle of
the streets, sitting in the middle of intersections, etc. If this 
is normal behavior, then it is certainly something I haven't seen 
in the 4 years that I've lived here! Our neighborhood killdeer 
moved in to a neighbor's yard a day or so after the cold snap 
began. It hangs out there all the time, and cries several 
times during the night when cars pass or a local cat strolls 
by. What is happening here? Has the usual food source been 
destroyed by the cold? Or is this just another symptom of how 
messed up our environment is becoming?

Thanks for any info or speculations...

-donna