Killdeer: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the killdeer lives – recorded in 29 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Charadrius vociferus
Group	Waders, gulls, terns & auks
Status	Near threatened (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	29 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Bird
Order	Charadriiformes
Family	Charadriidae

Where does the killdeer live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the killdeer in 29 countries and territories across North America and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the killdeer endangered?

The killdeer’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Near threatened” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the killdeer?

The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a bird in the order Charadriiformes and the family Charadriidae, genus Charadrius. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the killdeer

The killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) is a large plover found in the Americas. Its shrill, two-syllable call is often heard, sounding like "kill deer". It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. The nominate (or originally described) subspecies breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to Mexico. It is seen year-round in the southern half of its breeding range; the subspecies C. v. ternominatus is resident in the West Indies, and C. v. peruvianus inhabits Peru and surrounding South American countries throughout the year. North American breeders winter from their resident range south to Central America, the West Indies, and the northernmost portions of South America.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Killdeer (revision 1361766784), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q755737 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).