Southern lapwing

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Southern lapwing
both V. c. lampronotus
The Pantanal, Brazil

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Vanellus
Species:
V. chilensis
Binomial name
Vanellus chilensis
(Molina, 1782)
Subspecies

3-4 (see text)

Synonyms

Parra chilensis Molina, 1782
Belonopterus chilensis (Molina, 1782)
Vanellus grisescens Grant, 1912[2]
Dorypaltus prosphatus Brodkorb, 1959
and see text

The southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis), commonly called quero-quero in Brazil, or tero in Argentina and Uruguay, tero-tero in Paraguay, and queltehue in Chile is a

basin of the Río de la Plata. It has also been spreading through Central America in recent years. It reached Trinidad in 1961, Tobago
in 1974, and has rapidly increased on both islands, sporadically making its way North to Barbados where one pair mated, nested, and produced chicks in 2007.

Description

This lapwing is the only crested wader in South America. It is 32 to 38 cm (13 to 15 in) in length and weighs approximately 250 to 425 g (8.8 to 15.0 oz). The upperparts are mainly brownish grey, with a bronze glossing on the shoulders. The head is particularly striking; mainly grey with a black forehead and throat patch extending onto the black breast. A white border separates the black of the face from the grey of the head and crest. The rest of the underparts are white and the eye ring, legs, and most of the bill are pink. It is equipped with red bony extensions under the wings (spurs), used to intimidate foes and fight birds of prey.

During its slow flapping flight, the southern lapwing shows a broad white wing bar separating the grey-brown of the back and wing coverts from the black flight feathers. The rump is white and the tail black. The call is a very loud and harsh keek-keek-keek.

There are three or four

intergrade
.

Fossil record

In

sister species.[3]

Ecology

This is a lapwing of lake and river banks or open grassland. It has benefited from the extension of the latter habitat through widespread cattle ranching. When nesting in the vicinity of airports, it poses a threat to the safety of aerial traffic.[4] Its food is mainly insects (such as grasshoppers)[5] and other small invertebrates (including earthworms and cutworms), as well as small fish,[5] hunted using a run-and-wait technique mainly at night, often in flocks. In urban areas like Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and La Plata it can even be seen feeding on floodlit soccer pitches during televised matches.

The southern lapwing breeds cooperatively in social groups and that social group consists of a breeding pair with one or two young from the previous breeding season.[6] They breed on grassland and sometimes on ploughed fields, and have an aerobatic flapping display flight. It lays 2–3 (rarely 4) olive-brown eggs in a bare ground scape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders (including humans) by means of threats, vocalizations, and low flights. After the breeding season, it disperses into wetlands and seasonally-flooded tropical grassland.

Gallery

  • Southern lapwing chick
    Southern lapwing chick
  • Nest of V. c. lampronotus with small clutch
    Nest of V. c. lampronotus with small clutch
  • V. c. chilensis (Valdivia, Chile)
    V. c. chilensis (
    Valdivia, Chile
    )
  • Nesting V. c. lampronotus threatening photographer. Note spurs protruding from wrists.
    Nesting V. c. lampronotus threatening photographer. Note spurs protruding from wrists.
  • In flight
    In flight
  • Chick
    Chick
  • Skeleton
    Skeleton
  • V. c. cayennensis, Tobago
    V. c. cayennensis, Tobago
  • Southern lapwing with youngster under wings
    Southern lapwing with youngster under wings
  • In flight to defend it's nest in (Gravatá, Brazil)
    In flight to defend it's nest in (Gravatá, Brazil)
  • In flight (Natal, Brazil)
    In flight (Natal, Brazil)

References

Bibliography

External links