Lapwings of Lanka

This charming bird is from the family Vanellus and are ‘wading’ birds. There are more than twenty varieties around the world out of which three are seen in Sri Lanka. Lapwings are closely related to plovers and some of them are even referred to as plovers.

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Homagama, Sri Lanka.

The Red-wattled Lapwing is a common bird in the wet, marshy lands in the low country regions. They frequent paddy fields are also known as “Did-he-do-it”, due to its call.

Yellow-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus malabaricus)

The Yellow-wattled Lapwing is slightly smaller than the Red-wattled Lapwing and in contrast is seen mainly in the dry zone. This fine specimen was seen in Bundala, Sri Lanka in December 2008.

Sociable Lapwing (Vanellus gregarius)

[Picture not available on Zeylanica yet]

There is one other Lapwing spotted in Sri lanka, by the name of Sociable Lapwing, that is listed as Critically endangered by the IUCN. However, recent conservation effort has paid off, and this lapwing is said to be ‘living up to its name’ in some areas of Turkey, where a superflock of 3200 were discovered.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapwing
http://www.arkive.org/sociable-lapwing/vanellus-gregarius/
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3172&m=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociable_Lapwing