From Opus

Vanellus indicus

Photo by Yeshey Dorji
Photographed: Toorsa, Phuentsholing, Bhutan.

[edit] Identification

35cm. Light brown wings and back, black head and chest and front part of neck, white patch runs between 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.

[edit] Distribution

Iraq, SW Iran, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Kashmir, Nepal.

[edit] Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognized:^[1]

• V.i. aigneri - southeast Turkey to Pakistan
• V.i. indicus - east Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh
• V.i. lankae - Sri Lanka
• V.i. atronuchalis - northeast India and Myanmar to northern Malaysia and Indochina

[edit] Habitat

Open country and forest clearings; freshwater wetlands.

[edit] Behaviour

Its nest is a scrape in the ground or depression and 3-4 black-blotched buff eggs are laid.

Its diet includes ants, beetles, caterpillars, insects, snails and other invertebrates, as well as a quantity of vegetable matter.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages