Red Wattled Lapwing

The Red-wattled Lapwing with the scientific name Vanellus indicus is a lapwing or large plover or a wader species falling under the family Charadriidae and the order charadriiformes.It is a very common resident in most parts of the Indian subcontinent.

The various local names comprises of titeeri (Hindi), titodi (Gujarati),tateehar (Sindhi), hatatut (Kashmiri),yennappa chitawa (Telugu), balighora (Assamese), aal-kaati (Tamil). The quick classification of Red-wattled Lapwing is as below,

Scientific Classification

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

Physical Characteristics:

Red-wattled Lapwings are large waders or plover with crimson red wattle, black tipped red bill, black tipped short tail and bright yellow legs.It is about 32 to 35cm long and has a red fleshy wattle before each eye. The head, chest and front part of the neck are black in color while the wings and back are colored light brown in combination with purple sheen. A white patch runs between these two colors right from the belly and tail, flanking the neck to the sides of the crown.


They make loud alarm calls which are rendered as, did he do it or pity to do it which lead to colloquial name for the bird as 'The did-he-do-it bird'. Usually they are seen in pairs or small groups close to water bodies. Perhaps, they form large flocks of about 25 to 200 birds during the non-breeding season probably during winter season.

Both sexes look alike. Males and females look similiar as far as plumage is concerned but males possess 5% longer wing and have longer carpal spur.The length of the bird's wing is 208-247 mm. The Bill is 31-36 mm long and tarsus varies from 70 to 83 mm. Tail length is about 104 to 128 mm.

Flight is slow with deliberate flaps, but capable of remarkable agility when their nest are being defended. Its stunning appearance is supplemented by its noisy nature, which comprises of a loud and scolding did-he-do-it call, often produced at night.

The male and female red-wattled lapwing are alike in appearance whereas the juvenile has duller plumage. The juvenile also has a white throat, a white speckled crown and a greyish-brown breast.

Behavior:

Red-wattled lapwings tend to stay in the same location year-round, those which occupy higher altitudes seem to migrate to lower elevations during winter. During this season, the red-wattled lapwing is intermittently seen in scattered flocks, while in the breeding season it is always found in pairs or alone.They feed peacefully at night since they are seen active during the day hours.

They take bath in pool of water and the birds often spend their time on preening when leaving the nest or after copulation. They either rest on the ground with the tarsi laid flat on the ground or may rest on one leg.

Food Habits:

These birds prefer feeding on beetles and other insects like ants, larvae of flies, butterfly, bugs, earwigs, grasshoppers, molluscs, worms and crustaceans. It ususally forages at dusk, dawn, and during full moon nights.

Places Found:

This lapwing species is seen widespread throughout Asia particulary in Peninsular India The subspecies are found in below places,
V. i. aigneri is distributed from southeast Turkey, across Iran and Iraq, till West Pakistan.
V. i. indicus occurs in India, eastern Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
V. i. lankae is found in Sri Lanka
V. i. atronuchalis is distributed in northeast India.

This lapwing species is seen widespread throughout Asia particulary in Peninsular India. They occur in a wide range of habitats like open grasslands, well-watered open country, grazing land, ploughed lands, artificial land and dry beds of tanks and puddles.

They are seen as pairs in forest clearings in and around rain-filled depressions. They are seen in open areas of lowlands which are 1,800m above sea level. The other places where red-wattled lapwing inhabits are sites closer to freshwater such as rivers, wet grasslands, streams, marshes, creeks and pools.

Mating and Nesting:

The breeding season for red-wattled lapwing falls during the months of March to August. The courtship begins with the male puffing its feathers and points its beak upwards. The male then rounds the female. The female lays eggs on a ground scrape or depression sometimes fringed with pebbles, hare or goat droppings. Three to four black-blotched buff eggs with peg-top shaped is laid; the average size of the egg would be 42x30 mm.

It becomes difficult to differentiate the eggs in the nests since they are cryptically coloured and usually matches the ground color. At times the nests are built at the roof-tops in residential areas and also between the rails of a railway track.

If the bird finds the nest being threatened they shift the eggs to someother nesting areas. The eggs are incubated by both the male and female and divert the predators that threaten their nest by means of various distraction methods like flashing their wings or by making loud calls. Males take up the incubation during the noon hours.The eggs get hatched in 28 to 30 days.

The reproductive success usually is 40%. Due to predation by crows, mongooses and kites, the egg mortality is high (43%). Chicks have a lower mortality (8.3%) and their survival improves after the first week.They feed water to their chicks by soaking their belly feathers in water and they sprinkle water on the eggs in order to keep them cool. Soon after hatching, the chick leaves the nest and start following their parents.

International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has categorized Red wattled lapwing as 'Least concern' since they appear in large number in various parts of world. The population has not been quantified and the species is reported to be uncommon throughout the world.

This species seems to be declining in its western range, but found abundant in much of South Asia, being seen at almost any wetland habitat in its range. Since they don't find any major threats they are never considered to be an endangered species. The population is stable and hence it is believed that the status will never approach vulnerable category.

Subspecies:

Four subspecies of the red-wattled lapwing are recogonized as such,

• Vallenus indicus aigneri,
• Vallenus indicus indicus,
• Vallenus indicus lankae
• Vallenus indicus atronuchalis

The above subspecies differs themselves slightly in the coloration of the upperparts and in size, in fact in the glossy appearance of the plumage. Among four the subspecies V. i. lankae is the smallest, darkest and glossiest, whereas V. i. aigneri looks paler and is the largest among other subspecies.

Interesting facts:

1. People in vaious parts of India predict whether the rain would be good or poor based on the bird's behaviour. If the bird lays eggs on high ground it is a indication of rain being good, otherwise the rains would be poor.
2. The eggs are known to be gathered by folk medicine practitioners for medicinal purposes.