Around 7am on spring mornings at K-Park, the north parking lot is usually a peaceful, quiet place. The first few students are beginning to arrive for the day and the sun is turning the sky a deep indigo. But this month, the silence of the morning has been interrupted.

A mother Killdeer bird has made a nest along the fence line of the soccer field. The bird’s squawks and chirps have been heard from across the parking lot every morning for the past two weeks as it has tried to scare off anyone who walked past its eggs. And, since students must walk within a yard of the nest to stay on the sidewalk in that area, the noise has been constant through every morning and every day after school.

Senior Allyssa Reed described the bird as “screaming” at her as she has walked past it every morning.

“I’m terrified someone is going to hurt it,” Reed said. She, like many who have become accustomed to the bird’s presence, has become concerned for its safety.

The bird is a species called a Killdeer, which makes its nest on the ground. It has four speckled eggs in a small dent in the dirt, which leaves it open to many dangers posed by day-to-day activities at K-Park. Our school’s soccer teams practice in the area, and the grass if also frequently mowed there. Additionally, Reed said that she is concerned that students from K-Park may try to intentionally hurt the bird or its eggs as well.

However, the K-Park administration has taken action to ensure the bird’s safety. On March 27th, K-Park secondary AP secretary Susan Badeaux submitted a work order to Humble ISD alerting them about the situation with the bird.

Brian McKendree of the Humble ISD pest control department responded within the day.

“The bird did not show any aggression towards me,” the response reads. “Instead it acted in normal Killdeer response to trying to lure potential predators away from its nest.”

Since the bird is only displaying defensive behavior and has not attacked anyone, Humble ISD has decided to not move the bird from the soccer field. McKendree asked the grass mower assigned to the soccer field to avoid that area.

The germination period of a Killdeer is 24-28 days, and Badeaux said that Humble ISD pest control believes the eggs were laid about two weeks ago. This means that KPark could have four very small, very fluffy members added to our school’s family within the week.