Red-wattled Lapwing

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Red-wattled Lapwing

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Charadriidae
Genus:	Vanellus
Species:	V. indicus

Binomial name

Vanellus indicus
(Boddaert, 1783)

Synonyms

Hoplopterus indicus (Boddaert, 1783)
Lobivanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783)
Tringa indica Boddaert, 1783

The Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus), (local names: Hindi: titeeri, titai, titori, Sindhi: tAteehAr, Gujarati: titodi Kashmiri: hatatut, Assamese: 'bAlighorA', Telugu: yennappa chitawa, Tamil: alkati) is a lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. It is sometimes called the did-ye-do-it bird due to its unmistakable call^[2].

1 Distribution
2 Description
- 2.1 Nesting
- 2.2 Diet
3 Image gallery
4 References
5 ==External links==

[edit] Distribution

It breeds from West Asia (Iraq, SW Iran, the Arabian/Persian Gulf) eastwards across South Asia (Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the entire Indian subcontinent up to Kanyakumari and up to 1800m in Kashmir/Nepal), with the related species Burmese Red-wattled Lapwing further east in Southeast Asia. May migrate altitudinally in spring and autumn (e.g. in N. Baluchistan or NW Pakistan), and spreads out widely in the monsoons^[3] on creation of requisite habitats, but by and large the populations are resident.

This species is declining in its western range, but is abundant in much of South Asia, being seen at almost any wetland habitat in its range.

[edit] Description

in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

In flight. Note the diagnostic V-shaped white wing bar, and also black and white markings on tail

at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.

Red-wattled Lapwings are large waders, about 35cm long (somewhat larger than a Rock Pigeon, with longer legs). The wings and back are light brown, but head and chest and front part of neck are black. Prominently white patch runs between these two colours, from belly and tail, flanking the neck to the sides of crown. Short tail is tipped black. A red fleshy wattle in front of each eye, black-tipped red bill, and the long legs are yellow. In flight, prominent white V-shaped wing bar.

It usually keeps in pairs or trios in well-watered open country, ploughed fields, grazing land, and margins and dry beds of tanks and puddles. It is also found in forest clearings around rain-filled depressions. It runs about in short spurts and dips forward obliquely (with unflexed legs) to pick up food in a typical plover manner ^[4]. Is uncannily and ceaselessly vigilant, day or night, and is the first to detect intrusions and raise an alarm, and therefore a nuisance to hunters. Flight rather slow, with deliberate flaps, but capable of remarkable agility when defending nest or being hunted by a hawk^[3].

Its striking appearance is supplemented by its noisy nature, with a loud and scolding did-he-do-it call, often uttered at night.

Call

Call of Red-wattled Lapwing

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

[edit] Nesting

Season: mainly March to August-September. Has a preference for marshes and similar freshwater wetland habitats. Lays eggs in a ground scrape or depression sometimes ringed around with a few goat droppings or pebbles. About 3-4 black-blotched buff eggs shaped a bit like a peg-top (pyriform), 42x30 mm on average. Nests are difficult to find since eggs and nest usually match the ground to perfection.^[3]

[edit] Diet

Ants, beetles, caterpillars and other insects, snails and other invertebrates, mostly picked from the ground. Also a quantity of vegetable matter. Feeds in the day as well as night.

[edit] Image gallery

at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	bathing at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	bathing at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.
At Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	after bath at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	after bath at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.	Reflection at Sultanpur at Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon District of Haryana, India.
preening near Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.	at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.	In flight with Cattle Egrets

[edit] References

^ BirdLife International (2004). Vanellus indicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
^ Grewal, Bikram; Bill Harvey and Otto Pfister (2002). Photographic guide to birds of India. Periplus editions / Princeton University Press. p.179
^ ^a ^b ^c Ali, Salim; Sidney Dillon Ripley (1983). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, 2nd ed.,10 vols. Oxford University Press. vol. 2, p.212-214.
^ Ali, Salim (1996). Book of Indian Birds, Salim Ali centenary edition. Bombay Natural History Society/Oxford University Press. p. 139