Masked Lap-WingsBy Nick

Appearance

Masked Lap-Wings have a pure white chest, along with a brown back and black head. The black collar is distinctive to the Southern race. The term Masked Lap-Wing comes from the yellow face and wattles they have, looking a bit like a mask. Although it seems odd these colours are actually camouflage! When the bird is flying, the white makes it look like the sky. When it is walking, the back looks like brown terrain.

Habitat

Masked Lap-Wings like a large area of short grass because, unlike most other birds, they lay their eggs on the ground. Lap-Wings also take shelter in small places. You will never see a Lap-Wing in a tree. This is because their feet aren’t built for landing in trees although they can fly. These native birds also like paddocks with dams, beaches and swamps.

Diet

Masked Lap-Wings tend to eat worms, large beetles, larvae, and more. We currently do not know a lot of the Lap-Wings diet but are still working on it. When Lap-Wings are bored you might see them pecking at the land for something to eat.

Behaviour

Masked Lap-wings are aggressive and shy the first time they meet you but as you don’t scare them they will become tame. In fact, if they’re tame and you walk up to them, they'll simply walk away slowly. You can hear a loud, metallic, penetrating and repeated harsh call from a Lap-Wing (on the you tube video). These birds swoop when under attack and always do their best to protect their young. Their other “weapon” is 2 spurs, or spikes on the sides of the bird. This is an excellent repel trick to their enemies.

Eggs and nests

Masked Lap-Wings lay 1-4 eggs and very rarely 5. The nest is a saucer shaped depression on the ground, usually lined with dry grass. They are about 15 cm in diameter and you need very sharp eyes to spot one. The eggs vary in colour from green to brown, and are camouflaged with black spots. The eggs take up most of the space of the nest if the female laid 4. It takes round about 29-36 days for the chicks to incubate.

Chicks

The Lap-Wing chicks are very wary just like the adults. They do not look like a Lap-Wing, yet. As you can see in the pictures, they are fluffy, small and their parents defend them at all costs. If you ever see a adult Lap-Wing sitting and has spread out wings, it is very likely that a chick will be taking shelter in the warmth of parents.

Similar species

The Northern race of the Masked Lap-Wing is smaller, has no collar and has a slightly bigger mask than our Southern Lap-Wing. So, the further you go up north, you’ll find that the size and features of this Lap-Wing are slowly changing.

The other similar bird is a Banded Lap-Wing which are again, smaller, have a larger collar and crown. They also have a tiny bit of red around their eyes. These birds also like short but large area of grass for their homeland.

General facts

The scientific name for a Masked Lap-Wing is Vanellus miles You will often hear these birds at night If you have an Australian Geographic calendar this year, a pair of

Northern Race Lap-Wings is located on June The chicks walk as soon as they hatch To prove their wary sense, the Lap-Wings sometimes look like they’re

about to step, then keep their leg bent for advance scouting Lap-Wings have been known to jump on each other and walk Lap-Wings used to be called “Masked Plover” then “Spurwinged Plover”

(because of their spur). Now we have our Masked Lap-Wing If a Lap-Wing sees a reflection of itself it thinks that it’s another Lap-

Wing! Problem is, they’re identical

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