20-12-2015 JURONG, SINGAPORE - MASKED LAPWING (Vanellus miles)

The Masked lapwing (Vanellus miles ) is a large, common, and conspicuous bird. It spends most of its time on the ground and has several distinctive calls. It is common in Australian fields and open land, and is known for its defensive swooping behavior during the nesting season. The species is also known as the Masked plover and often called the Spur-winged plover or just plover in its native range.

The Masked lapwing is the largest representative of the family Charadriidae. It has a conspicuous yellow spur on the carpal joint of each wing. The subspecies from northern Australia and New Guinea (V. m. miles ) have an all-white neck and large yellow wattles with the male having a distinctive mask and larger wattles. The subspecies found in the southern and eastern states of Australia and in New Zealand (V. m. novaehollandiae ), and often locally called the Spur-winged plover, has a black neck-stripe and smaller wattles. (Note that the northern hemisphere Spur-winged plover is a different bird.)

Masked lapwings are native to the northern and eastern parts of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea. These birds don’t migrate and prefer to live on the edges of wetlands, and in other moist, open environments. However, they are adaptable and can often be found in surprisingly arid areas, pasturelands, and urban areas.

Outside of the breeding season, Masked lapwings are shy and harmless birds. They are active during the day and spend most of their time on the ground searching for food. They can feed singly, in pairs, or in small groups. Masked lapwings have a wide range of calls that can be heard at any time of the day or night: the warning call, a loud defending call, courtship calls, calls to its young, and others. Since these birds live on the ground, they are always alert and, even though they rest, they never sleep properly. Masked lapwings may use diversion tactics against potential predators, such as fiercely protecting a non-existent nest, or a distraction display of hopping on a single leg, to attract attention to themselves and away from their real nest, or from their chicks. There seems to be some significant use of language to guide chicks during a situation perceived to be dangerous. Long calls appear to tell the chicks to come closer to the calling bird, and a single chirp every few seconds instructs them to move away. There is a widely-believed myth that the spur on the wings can inject venom. That may have been based on fear of the Masked lapwing's territorial behavior. Sometimes the bird can damage its wing in a strike but usually survives, although it is flightless while the wing heals.