SPCA Wildlife Center Caring for Young Killdeer

 

SPCA Monterey County Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is caring for 2 young killdeer after their eggs were mistakenly taken from their nest. 

The killdeer came to us after students found the eggs and hatched them in an incubator. Killdeer parents don't build typical nests, instead they lay their eggs in a small scrape on the ground, usually decorated with pieces of shells or rocks. 

The SPCA Wildlife Center recommends not taking wild eggs. Instead, please contact us with photos or video so we can provide advice. Often eggs that appear abandoned are being cared for by attentive parents scared away by human presence. 

Once they hatched, the newborn birds were brought to the SPCA Wildlife Center for care. After care indoors with a feather duster acting as a surrogate parent, the young killdeer are now two weeks old and in an outdoor aviary. Once they are old enough, we will release them to killdeer habitat near the Salinas river. 

Killdeer are fairly uncommon in the SPCA’s Wildlife Center. We have rescued 30 since 2013, less than three a year on average. 

Killdeer are large plovers found in the Americas. Killdeer live near coastal wetlands, beach habitats, and coastal fields, and do not always nest close to water. Killdeer get their name from the shrill, wailing kill-deer call they give so often. Eighteenth-century naturalists also noticed how noisy Killdeer are, giving them names such as the Chattering Plover and the Noisy Plover. Adult killdeer are known for acting like they have broken wings to lure predators away from their young. Killdeer are protected by the United States Migratory Bird Treaty Act. 

To report a wild animal in need of rescue: 831-264-5427

To help rescued wild animals: www.spcamc.org/donate

The SPCA Wildlife Center is the only full-service wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Monterey County, rescuing over 2,500 injured, sick, and orphaned wild animals every year. 

Everything we do for rescued wild animals is only made possible by your compassionate support. 

The SPCA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center is the only full service wildlife rehabilitation center serving Monterey County. We operate under permits from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Your support is extremely important to us, as we do not receive funding from any federal, state or local government agency.  Each year, The SPCA Wildlife Center admits over 2,500 animals for treatment and care.

SPCA Monterey County is your nonprofit, independent, donor-supported humane society that has been serving the animals and people of Monterey County since 1905. The SPCA is not a chapter of any other agency and does not have a parent organization.  They shelter homeless, neglected and abused pets and livestock, and provide humane education and countless other services to the community. They are the local agency you call to investigate animal cruelty, rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife, and aid domestic animals in distress.

Online: www.SPCAmc.org

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