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.