The killdeer is a fairly common resident in Massachusetts.  This species is among the earliest spring migrants to arrive, usually by the middle of March.  Killdeer usually lay 4 eggs in a nest scrape lined with pebbles or grass.  After hatching the young move about quickly and start feeding themselves. The chicks fly around 25 days after hatching.  In October, they gather in flocks and are most common in the interior river valleys.  This killdeer was seen along the uncovered riverbed of the Merrimack River just east of Rt. 495!