When We Find More Humanity In A Bird

By Sasha Mercer

Blogger with The American Refugees

In the area that I live, we have these interesting birds called Killdeers. They are sort of a sandpiper type of bird, not very large and they spend most of their time running from here to there on the ground. The thing that is so different about these birds is that they nest on the ground, and not hidden, away like one might think, but often right out in the middle of “traffic.” By traffic I mean cow pastures, hikers, beach combers, basically putting their eggs in jeopardy, or so one might think.

Case in point, just this past month, a pair of killdeers laid four eggs smack dab in the middle of my riding arena. The mother killdeer, when she sees what she perceives as a predator; humans, cats, dogs, she lies very low and keeps as still as possible on her nest and unless you are looking for her, she will easily blend into her surroundings so you would never notice her. If the threat to her eggs happens to be a large grazing animal coming her way that could potentially smash her eggs, she will wait until it is just a few inches from the nest and then flap up right under its nose to startle it and send it running. If you appear to be a threat and are coming close to the nest she flies away from the nest, a few feet away and dramatically screams in her little bird voice and carries on until the predator’s attention is now focused on mama bird. With her carrying on she also calls to her mate, who was apparently within earshot and he joins in the mission to save their eggs. They both do all they can to attract your attention. You know you are close to the eggs based on the urgency of their display. They will fly in close to you and stretch one of their wing’s out as if to say “look, I’m injured, come get me!” This display always works on the less bright animal; dogs quickly go scurrying after the bird and she flies away to safety, then the predator gives up. Eggs safe.

Just a few days ago we had temperatures in the near 90’s, which is high for our area. Mama Killdeer did not leave her eggs. I am not sure what high temperatures would do to those eggs, or the direct exposure to the sun’s rays, but it seemed that she knew it wasn’t good and diligently stayed over her eggs, wings slightly spread to shield them. Two days after our heat wave, we were greeted with an outright downpour. Once again, Mama Killdeer protected her eggs with her life; enduring the torrential downpour. No cover of trees or a building, she just endured the rain and the heat, whatever it took to get her babies hatched and ready to greet the world.

For those of you that have stuck with me thus far, I promise you I have a point and it isn’t just a nature lesson. At the same time this family of killdeers was taking up residence in my riding arena, abortion activists were fighting against the laws that would stop the barbaric practice of aborting a baby past 20 weeks in the womb down in the great state of Texas.

The irony was not lost on me that a little bird was defending these eggs with her whole being, these eggs that she knows will not be “viable” unless she protects them, keeping them warm from the cold, protected from the heat, defended from predators, all at the risk of herself. She uses her own little vulnerable body to bring her young into the world. She has no ultra sounds to tell her what are in the eggs, no doctors to explain when the heartbeat of her little babies began beating, she just knows that what is in those eggs is important, she knows they are her babies. She gives her whole life, every moment of it, to get those little eggs hatched, while at the same time women were chanting vile chants, carrying vile signs, demanding their right to kill their baby after it has begun hiccupping in the womb, sucking its thumb, yawning and stretching.

It makes one stand back and wonder; between the protesters in Texas and the little Killdeer in my arena, which is more evolved?

Note From The Editors: Sasha Mercer is hour homeschooling blogger at TheAmericanRefugees.com .