Observations on Yellow-wattled lapwing Nesting

Yellow-wattled lapwings, in general,seem to prefer a drier habitat compared to their cousins, the Red-wattled lapwings. They are plovers like their cousins. The reason for their yellow wattles is unclear.

I had the opportunity to study closely the nesting behaviour of Yellow-wattled lapwings. They tend to nest on the open ground. the nest is just a scrape on the ground. I had the opportunity to study five active nests from an unobstructive distance away. They lay 3-4 eggs in a clutch. (In birds of Kerala, Dr Salim Ali mentions that the nest contains invariably 4 eggs but I could see two nests with just 3 eggs. I visited again a day after and three days after to see if the clutch would contain another egg. No, there wasn't any new egg).

Spacing of the nests seem to be highly variable. On two occasions, I have seen them nesting barely 25 ft away from each other. It does seem that both the parents partake in the nesting duty. The chicks are born nidifugus (ie., they are able to see, walk and find their own food on birth). However, it seems that the parent broods on the chick for sometime after its birth.

I once walked close to a yellow-wattled lapwing which appeared to be brooding. The parent, when approached too closely, walked away, revealing two very small chicks. The Yellow-wattled lapwing uttered a single note call hearing which the chicks remained immobile in their positions. Since the chicks are very cryptically plumaged, It is very difficult to spot them in an open ground. They seem to perfectly blend with their surroundings.

When I tried to approach the chicks, the parents became very agitated and started calling frantically and flew towards me menacingly. They only became calm after they saw me leave. I could not witness the broken wing display of Yellow-wattled lapwings.(For a detailed discussion of Broken-wing and other distraction displays please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distraction_display) Again, I could see no sign of the egg shells. The parents had either disposed of the egg shells or had consumed them to supplement calcium in their diets. This raises an important question: If the chicks are born Niudifugous, and the parents and chicks start looking for insects away from the nests, is there a need for nest concealment? do they reuse the same nesting sites?

I must mention here that the response by Yellow-wattled lapwings when their nests or chicks are approached were many and varied. Once when I approached a nest, the brooding lapwing simply moved some distance away and sat down in different place like it was brooding in that location. (See picture below). The practice resembled 'false brooding'. There were many occasions where the bird simply walked away while keeping a watchful eye over the nest from a safe distance without crouching down.

On one occasion, a lapwing with chicks, collected both the chicks under its wing and crouched low to the ground.

In another occasion, when I walked upto a parent with four newly chicks (Undoubtedly from one of the nests I have been observing), the parent uttered a single note call. hearing this call, all the four chicks lay flat on the ground and were immobile.

Their nesting practices raises many questions. How are they able to protect their nests against predators like crows, kites, buzzards and feral dogs? how do they make sure that nests are not accidentally trampled by grazing animals?

I could observe that the Yellow-wattled lapwings do not abandon their nests even after their nests with eggs or chicks have been discovered. I also observed that they are not very aggressive when the nest contains only eggs. Their behaviour changes only when chicks are present.

The effectiveness of their plumage can be appreciated in summers or post summers when the grasses dry out and Yellow-wattled lapwings begin to blend well with their surroundings.

I could also see Yellow-wattled lapwings are affected by mites the same as Pipits are affected by Mites.

I visited the breeding site on 10/07/16 when it was raining. I wanted to observe f the parent was brooding on the eggs even during the rains and I could observe the dedicated parents on the job unmindful of the rain. I even observed several lapwings collecting insects in the rain. Rain seems to be only a minor inconvenience in their scheme of things.

One of the nests I have been observing from 18/06 had finally hatched on 14/07. So The incubation period of the eggs should be greater than 26 days. (Greater than 26 because I don't know when the eggs were first laid) It appears that all the eggs hatched simultaneously.(I visited the site of 12/07 and still saw the eggs being brooded by the parent) . It was fascinating to me that all eggs hatched simultaneously even if they were laid a few days apart. I am sure that bird has been brooding on the eggs since they were first laid, then how is this feat of simultaneous hatching achieved?


Questions that remained with me:
1) How long are the eggs incubated?
2) What is the breeding success rate?
3) How long are the chicks dependant on their parent?
4) Do all the eggs hatch simultaneously?
5) Do Siblings from previous brood assist it brooding later clutches?
6) How many broods do a couple raise in a year?

Some of these questions can be answered only if the birds are tagged or colour coded.

Some observations on the Black-shouldered kite

For birders living in the countryside, Black-shouldered kites are a fairly common sight. Often, they are seen roosting on electric lines or telephone lines. They have come so accustomed to roosting on these lines that it sometimes becomes frustrating for photographers to take photographs of them in a 'natural perch'. (This is mandatory for qualifying for photography contests)

They can often be mistaken for crows because of their apparent small size. I have seen Black shouldered kites roosting alongside crows and mynas. These birds don't seem bothered by each others presence. It also quite common to see them being mobbed by crows. We can only assume what transpired between them. Black-shouldered kite probably tried to steal eggs or chicks from a crows nest.

I once observed three Black-shouldered kites, while being mobbed by crows, were also engaged in some sort of a ritual. In mid flight, one of the Black-shouldered kites would flip over and present the talons to the other bird. The other black-shouldered kite would catch hold of the talons and would cart-wheel in the sky for some distance before breaking away and repeating this process. I had seen this kind of behaviour in sea eagles in "The Life of Birds" documentary by David Attenbrough. Sea eagles engage in such cartwheeling while fighting for territory.

I tried to look up several sources to find out if this behaviour was documented in Black-shouldered kites. However, there was no mention of this. In the book "Birds of prey" by Rishad Naoroji, there was a mention of this behaviour. It is apparently a courtship ritual that these birds perform. It is mentioned that the usually the female usually flips over and presents its talons to the male. I was unable to ascertain this as the sexes are indistinguishable in the field.

Another thing I have observed with Black-shouldered kites is their tail flicking behaviour. while roosting, they are sometimes observed to flick their tails up and down in a unique fashion. I don't know the reason for this behaviour. They are perhaps signalling. I however could not sight another black-shouldered kite in the proximity.

When they are roosting and they are about to take off, they almost always defecate. Infact, I believe most raptors defecate before take off. I have seen White-eyed buzzards do this.

I also have seen Black-shouldered kites being active very early in the morning to very late in the evening. (on June 24/06/16, I actually Black-shouldered kites hunting for prey at 7:00 PM in the evening. However, the date being very close to the summer solstice, enough light was available)

One observation shared by an ardent birder was that the presence of Black-shouldered kites in a location, is an indicator for habitat destruction. I don't know the basis of this belief or if this belief is true. It needs validation.