How Sentinel Birds Help Neighbors Avoid Predators

This story is brought to you by BirdNote, a show that airs daily on public radio stations nationwide.

Uh-oh, we must have walked into a nesting territory! That’s the loud and strident call of a “sentinel” bird, in this case, a Killdeer. There it is, flying around and over our heads.

Yes, these calls are arresting and annoying, but imagine what it would be like to be a fox hunting for the Killdeer’s nest! 

Killdeer are sentinel birds—birds that seem especially alert to predators. As birds of open country, they can see you—or that fox—coming from a long distance. And as good fliers, they can keep out of harm’s way while warning all the other Killdeers in the area of your presence. But Killdeer aren’t the only sentinel birds.

The kek kek kek calls of Black-necked Stilts and the pleep calls of American Avocets function in the same way. Loud, distracting, and very communicative, they serve to inform everyone in the area that a predator is present. Perhaps just as important, they tell the predator that it has been seen, everyone is now aware of its presence, and it might just be time to find a quieter neighborhood. 

Catch a video of avocets and Black-necked Stilts on birdnote.org. 

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Calls of Killdeer, Black-necked Stilts, and American Avocet recorded by G.A. Keller. 
BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black

Written by Dennis Paulson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org  October 2013/2015   Narrator: Michael Stein