Thread: LAPWING PLOVERS

Oh Diddums!!
Are the nasty birds frightening you and the grandchildren.

I used to love going "round the creek' to Heath Park in East Brisbane when I was a kid and setting myself up as a target and turning as they dived.

They never ever hit me unlike the damn butcher birds when they nest.But I love them, even though I used to feed the male and he still would bomb me.

They are part of the Australian landscape and have trouble enough reproducing as butcher birds, hawks, and numerous other predators including cats kill the chicks. Their biggest asset is the ability to pretend to be injured to distract cats and dogs from their nest.
They can become quite friendly if you feed them, and if you want to deter them, maybe put up some posts with rope and ribbons and they will probably move as they want large clear spaces to protect the young.

Regards Philip A

QLD parks and wildlife used to relocate "problem" magpies from the suburbs. Not sure if NSW do the same for masked lapwings...

Strangely enough there are a couple of nesting pairs near the caravan park we use and you can walk past them and their chicks and they just stand there and watch. Almost as if they didn't care

And Phillip A, I can defend myself but my grandkids are 2 and 4. They can't. Jim

The best way will be to put a net over the crop.
Back home people used to eat the eggs of Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis
The Australian Plover is a Vanellus miles

I have had pairs of Plovers in my backyard for many years and they are great. We had problems in the early years but Betty started to feed them slices of bread divided into little pieces. This was successful and she befriended them, so I got into the act. I would feed them in the morning and Betty late afternoon. Its important to let them see you putting the food out. For years now they just ignore me and move aside but get in the way a bit when they follow me around as I am mowing the lawn.
Little kids can be taught this by making it a joint venture and teach them to put the food out and teach them to keep a distance while they are nesting with eggs.
Its important not to put to much food out so that there are left overs as they must not become dependent on it.
After a couple of breeding seasons with our birds Betty could handle the chicks a little without any problems. She had a way with birds.
One season I would sit quietly while there would be upto half a dozen Magpies eating meat in our dining room. I loved the sound of them telling us all about it.
Dont get me started on the little Sparrows and Willie Wagtails, beautiful little things. They both build nests in my back room which is an enclosed verandah thingy. I think they soon worked out that the Leatherheads would not raid the nests in there.

I remember having a run in with a couple of Plovers years ago.
Somewhat stupidly, they had decided to nest beside the runway at the flying club I was with.
One Cessna Aerobat at full throttle heading down the runway, one Plover at full flap heading up the runway.
You can guess the outcome.

That aside, I love all our Aussie birds and critters. My joy is the early morning wake up calls I get from a pair of Southern Magpies that nest in the gums in our garden.

We've 2 nesting at the moment. Lucy & Lance Lapwing. They're protective of their 4 eggs but have lost all their eggs/chicks 3 years running, so I've got no beef with them. I know they dive bomb but they really don't get near enough to hit you & if they did hit you, at the speed they travel, they'll do more harm to themselves than to you. All the talk about the spiked wings on the male being used to hit people is crud as, once again, if he did hit you he'd break his wing & no, they won't sacrifice themselves.
We've also got 2 Magpie chicks, 1 Pied Butcherbird chick, a couple of Friar Birds, Black Cockies (calling as I type), & 2 very funny, just fledged Kookies. Sadly, something got the Hybrid Teal ducklings on the dam