- Vanellus miles
Identification
30–37 cm (11¾-14½ in)
Adults
- Yellow wattles and bills
- Black crown and hindneck
- Back and wings smooth brown
- White rump and underparts
- Black tip on tail
- Red/orange legs and feet
Juvenile
- Smaller wattles
- Feathers on upperparts edged with black and buff
Variations
Northern subspecies (V. m. miles) has an all white neck and long facial wattles
Southern subspecies (V. m. novaehollandiae) has a black neck, sides of breast and small, rounded wattles
Distribution
Australia and New Zealand.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- V. m. miles (Masked Lapwing):
- New Guinea and northern Australia; visitor to southern Wallacea
- V. m. novaehollandiae (Black-shouldered):
- East and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand
V. m. novaehollandiae became self introduced to Southland, New Zealand in the 1930s spreading throughout New Zealand, where it is known as the Spur-winged Plover, leading to confusion with the species from the Northern Hemisphere which has the same name[1].
Habitat
Wetlands and in other moist, open environments.
Behaviour
Diet
Their diet mainly consists of items such as molluscs, worms, millipedes, centipedes, insects and crustaceans. They will also take frogs, leaves and seeds on occasion.
Breeding
A clutch of three to four yellowish or brownish-olive eggs with brownish-black or purple spots or blotches are laid. The nest is a scrape on the ground often lined with twigs, leaves, dried grass, or small pebbles. Otherwise unlined nests may be found in newly plowed fields. Occasionally nests on roofs of buildings.
Vocalisation
Call is a shrill staccato rattle, loud penetrating and stuttering – often heard at night. Also single notes.
Movements
Resident and dispersive, responding to new food sources.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- del Hoyo, J., Collar, N. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Black-shouldered Lapwing (Vanellus novaehollandiae). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/467302 on 20 December 2019).
- Marchant, S.; Higgins, P.J. (eds) 1993. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic birds. Vol. 2, raptors to lapwings. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
- Woodley, K. 2013. Spur-winged plover in Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz
- Wikipedia contributors. (2019, December 26). Masked lapwing. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 08:22, December 31, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Masked_lapwing&oldid=932576305
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Masked Lapwing. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Masked_Lapwing
External Links
