As I left the barn late one evening last week, I was reminded of a similar night last fall.

The two were almost identical: the sky was bright, the moon close to full. Last autumn’s nocturnal delights included a lone coyote singing out in the distance as the calls of southbound migrating birds rained down from overhead; this early spring’s night was a similar feast for the eyes and ears, heralding the new season.

The air was warmer and moisture-laden; the moon a pale yellow. Spring peepers had begun their chorus but had not yet reached their usual deafening volume. The low, duck-like voices of wood frogs provided a counter-balance to the high-pitched peepers.

Above all this, killdeers called, their strident voices fading and growing louder again as they wheeled through the air, unseen in the dark. The killdeer is a plump shorebird – also known as a plover – with long legs, a short beak, and round, almost bulbous, eyes.

It frequently utilizes areas far from the shore, however, preferring grassy areas (such as pastures and golf courses), graveled roadsides, gravel pits, and graveled rooftops as nesting habitat. It is perhaps best known for its distraction display, when it feigns a broken wing as it hobbles along, calling piteously, in an effort to lure potential predators away from its nest. In this it is largely successful: according to the “Birds of North America” species account, 1,012 of 1,017 observed approaches by predators were diverted by this deceptive but alluring display.

As advantageous as our human-altered landscape may be for the killdeer, paradoxically it also poses the most danger to the birds. Pesticides, pollution, and lawn mowers – yes, lawnmowers – pose significant threats to the birds’ well-being and success as breeders. Their nests are little more than scrapes in the ground, with very little, if any, nesting material added. They are made to blend in and often get mowed over without ever being seen. This happens to a number of other ground-nesting birds, many of which are in severe decline all over the United States.

Insecticides are also very harmful. The BNA reports that one turfgrass pest, the sod webworm, is a primary food source for killdeers, and they, along with other birds, “can effect 80 percent control of sod webworms.” Yet, once chemicals are used, it is often the birds that also are affected. The BNA refers to an article by E.J. Fisk, in “Florida Naturalist,” titled “A deadly rain of robins,” in which Fisk counted 175 dead killdeer after the chemical Azodrin was applied to a field where they foraged.

I cringe to think how many dead robins he counted.

Nature may have its problems, but have you noticed they often become catastrophic after our intervention? Nature also creates its own solutions: checks and balances exist. We need to make a greater effort to utilize them.

After going out into that soft, magical night last week and hearing the new spring voices, I felt I had come full circle. I take great comfort in the cyclic rhythms of nature, and am reminded, this Earth Day, that these rhythms must be respected and protected.

Today, join Maine Audubon members in an Earth Day cleanup from noon to 3 p.m. For more information and locations, call the Fields Pond Audubon Center at 989-2591.

BDN bird columnist Chris Corio can be reached at bdnsports@bangordailynews.net