Red-wattled lapwing: Vanellus indicus indicus

Red-wattled lapwing
Vanellus indicus indicus

Red-wattled lapwing: Vanellus indicus

Gender: Indeterminate

Age: Adult

IUCN Status: Least Concern (Declared ‘Vulnerable’ status in western edge of its range in Turkey, Europe, in 2015 – European Red List 2015)

Sighted at: Central Ridge, New Delhi, India.

Date: 31.5.2015

Commoners, I have oft reiterated, have special qualities we frequently ignore just because they are commoners. This 60s-70s ‘Flower Child’ among birds who is so common in the Indian subcontinent, is not a hot click among birders. One will not find it a frequent upload to forums; or, with as many ‘Like’ numbers or comments as the more exotic. But if one looks again at this bird, you can see Hare Rama Hare Krishna’s Zeenat Aman in its appearance, flight, courtship, excitability, and in its calling.

 

Nobody can forget its call once heard. It has been variously described but the closest approximation, to my mind, is the commonly described did-he-do-it did-he-do-it during courtship or when alarmed, and the softer monosyllabic did did when in calmer frame of mind. So much so, this bird is also called the ‘Did-he-do-it bird’.

 

These birds are known to stay near waterbodies. By waterbodies, one usually imagines a largish sort of water-holding formation; therefore, imagine my surprise when I heard its call back in July 2013 when I was in Rajasthan’s Thar desert in the Jaisalmer region! I had stopped at a ‘dhaba’ in the middle of a desert – not a single structure as far as the eye could see and nothing but sandy desert all around. But this ‘dhaba’ had probably commandeered a small oasis near it and built a small bank ll around it. This little 2-3 metre diameter waterbody was enough to sustain this graceful bird in Thar desert!

 

Key identifying features of this male representative are:

1)     Black cap, neck and chest.

2)   Red bill with a black tip.

3)   Yellow legs. Long reedy legs of a wader.

4)   Wings and back are light brown with a purple sheen. This is clearly visible in this specimen.

5)    White plumage runs from the edge of eye, ear coverts and down sides of neck, flanks, belly and up to tail. These are secondary wing coverts and visible in flight as white wing bars.

6)   Tail is black-tipped.

7)    Red eye-rings.

8)   Red wattle in front of the eye, in the lores region which wraps around the front of the head but stops short from joining up at the forehead.

9)   The iris is rusty-brown and along with the eye-ring, wattle and clear cornea give the impression of one wearing funky shades without arms going over ears.

Males and females are indistinguishable from a distance – the male is slightly larger than the female and have a longer carpal spur.

Anybody who has encountered this bird while birding would know they are alert birds and give away a stalking birder to other birds with their agitation, loud did-he-do-it-ing and circling flight. Like Jungle babblers who follow a birder’s back, ensuring other birds are well alerted. As if taking up a cause and broadcasting to others.

There is no funkier, hippie, flower child bird than this in looks as well as behaviour other than its cousins.

The birds are monogamous. The way they look, who woulda thunk it?

This species is polymorphic with four subspecies. The commonest one in India is the widespread V.i.indicus (the nominate race) and the V.i.atronuchalis found in the NE region of India and adjacent SE-Asian countries. Differ mostly in glossiness of plumage – the other three subspecies are duller than the nominate race. V.i.agneri is found from Turkey to Pakistan while V.i.lankae is found only in Sri Lanka.

This representative was about 30-35 cms in size and about 45 cms tall.

Taxonomy:

Kingdom	-	Animalia
Phylum	-	Chordata
Class	-	Aves
Order	-	Charadriiformes
Family	-	Charadriidae
Genus	-	Vanellus
Species	-	indicus

Correct me if I’m wrong, this is perhaps my most detailed write-up – it’s my tribute to exceptional qualities in all ‘commoners’ out there.

 

Photographed at Central Ridge, New Delhi, India, on 31^st May, 2015, using a Nikon D7200 camera and Tamron 150-600 mm lens.

 - Prashant V Tenjarla