Adults: Upperparts, brown. Underparts, white. Facial wattle yellow, extending behind the eye, large in miles, smaller in novaehollandiae . Wing spurs. Crown, flight feather, hind neck, sides of neck (novaehollandiae only), black. Eye, yellow. Bill, yellow. Tail, white with wide black terminal band. Legs, reddish, extending beyond tail in flight.
Juveniles: Like adult but smaller wattle, scalloping on back, sides of neck, brown black.
Voice
A metallic, grating, staccato, 'kekekekekek' or a single, piercing, repeated 'kek', often uttered at night. Running and rattling trills in display.
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) [XC860260]
by Mike Catsis from Copley dam, South Australia, Australia (call)
Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles) [XC320946]
by Greg McLachlan from Maffra, Victoria, Australia (alarm call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
June - October in south, November - May in north.
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Nest
A depression in the ground, lined with short dry grass stems.
Eggs (Guide)
3 - 4, usually 4; yellowish green to olive-brown, blotched all over with dark, black and sepia; pyriform; about 43 x 32 mm (miles) and 49 x 36 mm (novaehollandiae). Incubation: about 28 days; by both sexes.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous. Fledge in 6 - 7 weeks.
Subspecies
Subspecies novaehollandiae is on occasion considered distinct species, but intergrades with nominate form in at least two areas of overlap, in northern Queensland and in L Eyre catchment area. Birds of northern Australia formerly awarded separate subspecies, personatus.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
miles (Boddaert, 1783) - North-eastern and southern New Guinea and Aru Is to northern Australia; probably non-breeding visitor to south-eastern Wallacea.
novaehollandiae Stephens, 1819 - Eastern and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Black-shouldered Lapwing (Vanellus novaehollandiae).
Similar Species
Banded Lapwing (Vanellus tricolor)
Much smaller. Has a bold black breastband. Eyestripe, white. Small red lore wattle. Lacks wing spurs. Has a white bar across base of black flight feathers.
Compare Images
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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