Perth Voice Interactive

TRICKY black-fronted dotterels at Eric Singleton bird sanctuary are befuddling visitors by pretending to have broken wings.

The quirky birds lie on the ground feigning injury to distract potential predators from their nest, which is pretty vulnerable since they just lay eggs on the ground. If anyone goes near them the cheeky beaks flutter away, leading a pursuer further from their babies.

The “broken wing act” is common among these types of wading birds (called plovers), and some types will do a “rodent run” where they hunch down and scurry away from the nest pretending to be a delicious (and flightless) small mammal.

When our photographer Matthew Dwyer dropped by, a mating pair attempted to befuddle him with a two-bird ruse. First the papa would dart away from the nest, staying just in range to appear reachable, then he’d disappear and mama bird would step in to take up the con, scurrying further away.

Willy wagtails don’t nest on the ground but they also do the phony injury act attempting to get people to follow them. Noongar lore knows them as “Djitty Djitty” after the sound they make, and legend says they can lead children into the bush to be lost forever.

by DAVID BELL