Killdeer

The Killdeer bird is a plover that technically falls under the shorebird group found in and around North America. However, these medium-sized, tawny brown birds mostly nestle far away from water bodies. Like other members of the plover family, this species is often found at the water's edge, on mudflats and lake shores, but it also lives and is common to open ground, such as airports, pastures, plowed fields, large lawns, even at a great distance from water. Most successful nesting areas, however, have some shallow water or other good feeding area for the chicks.
Widespread, common, and conspicuous, the Killdeer calls its name as it flies over farmland and other open country. Many a person has been fooled by the bird's "broken-wing" act, in which it flutters along the ground in a show of injury, luring intruders away from its nest.