The Urban Pantheist

Plovers nest out in the open because the camouflage of their eggs and chicks is so effective that avian predators have a hard time seeing them. The plovers can see mammalian predators coming from a long distance on open beaches--they won't successfully nest if there is vegetation that mammals can hide behind or in. If a mammalian predator gets close, plovers perform a distraction display to lure it away from the nest. It seems weird, but it worked until cars and dogs got to the beaches.