The red-wattled lapwing believes in hiding in plain sight. Unlike other bird species that painstakingly build homes for their young ones, often high up in the treetops, the lapwing simply lays its eggs in a depression in the ground. At best, parents might ring them with pebbles or nuggets of goat poo.
Despite this low-maintenance approach to homemaking, the eggs remain relatively safe. For this, the unborn lapwings have their unremarkable looks to thank: Their natural colour, a mottled brown and beige, camouflages them with the ground so predators mistake them for stones, and fly or run right past them. The few that do figure it out—mongoose are especially good at this—are assaulted by the frantic and screeching calls of the parents. So loud and unpleasant are these calls, that predators sometimes abandon their hunt entirely. For these very reasons, lapwings are also considered an annoyance by hunters, for the ruckus they create when the humans enter their vicinity.
Both parents are involved in child-rearing from a young age, taking turns to incubate the eggs. On particularly warm days, the birds soak their belly feathers in water so the eggs don’t get overheated. They remain fiercely protective parents even after the chicks are born. When an adult warns of danger, the chicks instinctively hide in the plumage of the parent until the coast is clear.
The red-wattled lapwing is found across South East Asia, West Asia, and South Asia. Nature of the habitat also varies from open grasslands, to dried waterbeds, ploughed fields, and crevices in small-town buildings. Their preferred location is close to lakes and ponds, and they are often sighted in twos or threes around the waterbodies in bird sanctuaries. In winter, they gather in flocks ranging from 25 to 200, like a really raucous party.
Lapwings are entertaining birds to watch, because of their habit of running very fast in very short spurts and grinding to a halt when they spot a crunchy insect or snail to eat. They’re also prone to midnight snacking, and their signature call can be heard at all hours of the night, especially when the moon is full. So the next time you hear a call that sounds suspiciously like “Deeeed You Dooo It”, stick your neck out the window and scan carefully: you might catch sight of a red-wattled lapwing.
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