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Southern Lapwing | Vanellus chilensis
Chileense kievit | Avefría tero
The Southern Lapwing is a large, noisy lapwing of open grassland that spread from the South American mainland across the southern Caribbean in the second half of the twentieth century. In Trinidad and Tobago and on the ABC Islands it is now a familiar bird of pastures, playing fields and airfields. Birds in the region belong to the northern subspecies Vanellus chilensis cayennensis.
Voice
Very noisy. A loud, shrill, repeated keek-keek-keek, sustained when disturbed and around the nest, and often in flight. Pairs and groups also call at night.
Recording: JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
32–38 cm. A sturdy lapwing with long pink legs and a thin, pointed black crest on the hindcrown. Head and neck are grey, with a black forehead and a black throat that runs into a broad black breast shield; the belly is white. The back is grey-brown, with a bronze-green gloss on the shoulders. The eye and the base of the bill are red, the bill tip black. At the bend of the wing there is a sharp red spur, sometimes visible on a standing bird. In flight the broad, rounded wings stand out: black flight feathers with a broad white band across the wing coverts, a white rump and a black tail band. Juveniles are duller, with a shorter crest and pale fringes.
Confusion species
Few species in the region resemble it. Pied Plover Hoploxypterus cayanus, a rare vagrant, is much smaller and patterned in black and white, without a crest. Killdeer Charadrius vociferus is much smaller and brown, with two narrow breast bands.
Habitat
Short grassland: pastures, savanna, playing fields, golf courses, parks, the grass strips of airfields and roadsides; also the drier margins of marshes and rice fields. It forages on foot for insects and other invertebrates. It nests on the ground in a bare scrape in open terrain and fiercely defends nest and young against people, dogs and raptors.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
A common resident in Trinidad, where the species was first recorded in 1961, and in Tobago, where it has been known since 1974. In recent decades it has become established on Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, where it is now common. It is now also seen on Grenada and St Vincent; on Barbados a pair bred in 2007. Further north a rare vagrant. Beyond the region in almost all of South America to Tierra del Fuego, and spreading north through Central America.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In Trinidad and on the ABC Islands found on lawns, playing fields and around airfields, often in pairs or small groups. The birds usually make themselves heard first. Breeding pairs attack with loud calls when approached; keeping a distance prevents eggs or young being left unguarded.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species benefits from forest clearance and the creation of grassland, and has greatly expanded its range in the Caribbean and Central America. Whether the colonisation of Grenada, St Vincent and Barbados is permanent is not yet established.
Scientific name
Vanellus chilensis | (Molina, 1782)
Molina described the species in 1782 as Parra Chilensis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Vanellus was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Vanellus is Latin for 'little fan', the diminutive of vannus 'winnowing fan'. chilensis means 'of Chile', the country from which the species was described. The specimen the first description was based on came from Chile.