A killdeer uses a “broken-wing display” to distract potential predators from its nest near a set of railroad tracks off U.S. 80 in Delta, La. The tactic is a natural instinct used by the species, according to the National Audubon Society. The society says the female killdeer lays an average of four eggs with the mother and the father incubating, or sitting on, the eggs for 24 to 28 days.