Recently I was visiting my parents. I noticed that the lapwings were doing unusual things. They don't normally hang out on a neighbour's roof.
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| Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles), with a male magpie lark (the smaller black and white bird) |
They were spending a lot of time on the neighbour's lawn too. We were staying at the neighbours, house sitting, I was usually up late watching the Tour de France, and I would see them out on the lawn at all hours.
I began to understand why.
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Camouflage
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They appeared to sit on the nest during the night, and guard it closely during daylight.
I was excited to see their nest, as I'd never seen one before. Lapwings have rather remarkable behaviours while nesting. They screech rather loudly, divebomb intruders, and will attempt to draw predators away while pretending to be injured.
Saturday Snapshot, is a wonderful weekly meme from at home with books
15 comments:
Ahh, GREAT photos.
You gotta respect a bird that will place eggs on the ground and then defend them to the teeth [or beak] rather than opting for a tree.
Wow, that's amazing. You would think they would nest somewhere firther away from people. I've been walking round a stone circle http://goo.gl/8P0Zp
Very interesting commentary to go with your great photos. I love observing bird behavior. They are so much more logical than humans, at times.
That is very cool! I would be excited to see that too.
Very intriguing nesting behavior....and your persistence figured it out!
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Those are both gorgeous birds! Love that camoflauge, LOL!
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Wonderful to have a front row seat to observe this. I can understand shore birds nesting on the ground but for land birds it doesn't make much sense. And yet, there they are!
Wonderful photos! I love bird pictures!
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wow, great photos, and great camouflage :) Book Savvy Babe
I never would have seen that nest without it being pointed out. Neat that you got to see them!
Very interesting...Lapwings are similar to Killdeer...once saw them actually hatch....full fledged birds right out of the egg and they were off and running♫
As Lmkaz.. just said these birds appear to be first cousins to Killdeer (or Killdee). When I saw the nest on the ground it reminded me of a pair of Killdee who hatched their babies in the narrow curb area of a parking lot. I spent a lunch hour chasing babies and shooing away cars who might run them over.
Fortunately I did not see any neighborhood cats lurking about. I guess that it is good that these types of birds learn to fly (and run!) very quickly!
Bises,
Genie
Kildeer is another bird that makes its nest on the ground and then make a racket to try to draw an approaching person away from the nest. Dad taught us about this bird and its behaviour when we were quite young, as well as to leave the bird alone.
My bird knowledge is very limited Louise - I didn't even know that the birds with the yellow beaks were called lapwings!
And now I know...and about their amazing nesting habits - thanks :-)
Beautiful birds. I was surprised their nest is on the gound.
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