The Red-wattled Lapwing is a widespread resident in Peninsular India. They are present in a wide range of habitat ranging from open grasslands adjoining the cities to the dense habitat of the Indian wilderness.
They exhibit a unique behavior of being hyper wary of human presence and almost always raise an alarm when a jeep approaches too close. Their wariness reaches dizzy heights when they have chicks to protect. Red-wattled Lapwings lay their eggs in shallow open nests on the forest floor. However, spotting a nest is literally impossible, given the extent of camouflage. And the same is the case with the hatchlings; it is impossible to spot a Red-wattled Lapwing chick until they move.
On one of our recent safaris in the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary, we noticed a Red-wattled Lapwing close to the Jeep tracks and we stopped to photograph it. By the time the driver had stopped the Jeep, we had overshot the Red-wattled Lapwing and we had to change our position to get a clear view of the bird.
As we were photographing, the bird started calling out and that's when we noticed 2-3 chicks feeding close to the jeep. The chicks continued their feeding unmindful of the Jeep, which was close by. However, the mother started calling out again, this time in a different tone and immediately the chicks got wary and stood motionless for a while before moving away from the Jeep. The mother kept calling them and one by one the chicks went to her. Finally, when all of them reached the mother, she ruffled her feathers and it was amazing to watch the chicks literally hide inside her plumage. And the only way to tell that they were there, was by counting the number of legs.
They exhibit a unique behavior of being hyper wary of human presence and almost always raise an alarm when a jeep approaches too close. Their wariness reaches dizzy heights when they have chicks to protect. Red-wattled Lapwings lay their eggs in shallow open nests on the forest floor. However, spotting a nest is literally impossible, given the extent of camouflage. And the same is the case with the hatchlings; it is impossible to spot a Red-wattled Lapwing chick until they move.
On one of our recent safaris in the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary, we noticed a Red-wattled Lapwing close to the Jeep tracks and we stopped to photograph it. By the time the driver had stopped the Jeep, we had overshot the Red-wattled Lapwing and we had to change our position to get a clear view of the bird.
As we were photographing, the bird started calling out and that's when we noticed 2-3 chicks feeding close to the jeep. The chicks continued their feeding unmindful of the Jeep, which was close by. However, the mother started calling out again, this time in a different tone and immediately the chicks got wary and stood motionless for a while before moving away from the Jeep. The mother kept calling them and one by one the chicks went to her. Finally, when all of them reached the mother, she ruffled her feathers and it was amazing to watch the chicks literally hide inside her plumage. And the only way to tell that they were there, was by counting the number of legs.
10 comments:
Amazing photographs of the red-wattled lapwing chicks and of the mother with the chicks hiding under her feathers. Fantastic work, Thomas!
Amazing shots!
Love the last image -lots of legs going on there ;-)
lovely pics! we saw lots of lapwings at udaipur, but they didnt seem to be afraid of us, thanks to which i managed some decent pics!
Superb shots Thomas.
A multi-legged bird :-)
A great way to protect her young.
I have never seen that in my life, Thomas...the mama with just all the legs showing beneath her. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it!
i really like the off-springs :) they r so cute :)
she's very protective of her brood.. nice work capturing them.. :)
Wow that is a splendid species of lapwing... The one in Europe is so boring ;-) I love the first picture with what we could call a mutant ;-) A bird with eight legs ;-)
How delightful is that! So cool is nature and how it all works!
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