Killdeer on the Hudson

I have seen these birds at Assateague Island, Maryland at the state park . They were amongst the vegetation of the dunes. They pop out and seem to be hyper there. It is hard to get images of them. These are killdeer and I saw two on the shore of the Hudson River in New York. They were not so hyper and actually walked on the shore right in front of us.

They have a unique call. I just love their big eyes outlined in orange.  They eat earthworms, snails, crayfish, grasshoppers, beetles, among other things.  They are skilled at doing the broken-wing display, which is an attempt to lure predators away from their nest .

My area of New York is in their breeding range. South of us is their year round range. They obviously go elsewhere for winter. Welcome back! Have a great weekend!