The obligatory bird referene post for Libra

Lee Harvey Oswald asks how many people know a killdeer is a bird.

Photo by me.

Now you do.

I apparently take killdeer for granted, and thus this is the best photo I have of any. The bird on the far left and the bird on the far right are both killdeer. In the middle are one spotted sandpiper and one solitary sandpiper.

If you want to see some live killdeer, head down to the Fourth Street extension just north of Windsor Rd (or anywhere else south of St. Mary's Rd). There was a nest last week near Atkins Tennis Center, though last I checked I couldn't find any evidence of it having been there. Considering the pestering and distraction displays I got from the adult killdeer in the area, though, there are probably chicks hiding somewhere.

ANYWAY,

This is the part where I get all  conspiracy theory-y and say that DeLilo purposely picked the killdeer as his random bird encyclopedia reference.

To start off with, it has the word "kill" in it, so we wonder about what other alphabetically adjacent encyclopedia entries Oswald was interested in.

Secondly, killdeer fit in very well as imagery for Win Everett's failed assassination plot (note that this might be an example of me reading waaaaaaaay too much specific biological importance into a nature reference, similar to my reaction every time I see mention of orchids). The killdeer's most notable behavior is that they will lead predators away from their nests and young by pretending to have a broken wing. It's actually a really fun display to watch, and pretty convincing. One of the parent birds will make a lot of noise and partially extend one wing while sitting on the ground, occasionally twitching it to make a point of its fictional injury. Movement of the wing and the bird's bright reddish-brown tail also help divert attention. When approached, the displaying bird will run along the ground, keeping just enough distance between itself and the predator to be safe but still a potential food item. This continues until the predator is deemed to be far enough away from the nest, at which point the bird ends the charade, spreads both wings, and flies away, eventually looping back around to its nest.

Specifics aside, killdeer are the classic example of diversion tactics in nature; there are other organisms that do this, but kildeer are the ones that end up in textbooks.

Everett's plot, then is like a killdeer's display: he is going to enact a life-threatening situation (broken wing/assassination attempt) that is ultimately fake, but convincing enough to lead nosy people to where Everett wants them (away from the nest/in support of an invasion of Cuba) while leaving the important target (mommy bird/JFK) unscathed.

After all, there are plenty of other weirdly-named birds that could have been used, one of which would be an even more blatant symbol:

(unfortunately, I have no photos of this bird)

Snipe.