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*THREAD* I thought of sharing this with all of you. @tutu0tu is an Integrated MSc student in my lab. He is working on certain ecological aspects of the Yellow-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus malabaricus) which is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. (1/10)
@tutu0tu has been monitoring the Lapwing population in NISER campus for the past two months taking notes of the mating partners, the number of eggs laid, site of nest etc. Here is a male with a black “cap” and a female with “blotched cap”. (2/10)
The eggs are laid on the ground, usually in open areas. In spite of being exposed, they are very hard to spot due to pigmentation. They are usually laid in clearings on the ground. @tutu0tu has observed them in clutches of 2-4 eggs. (3/10)
In spite of the camouflage, being exposed has its drawbacks. In NISER, there are a few clutches on the playground. Besides people moving around on the playground, these areas are also manicured making it difficult for the eggs to survive. (4/10)
Like any other residential campus, NISER too has a fairly large population of dogs. It is bizarre how these eggs survive the dogs. @tutu0tu has seen dogs sitting a metre away from an egg clutch and still not detecting it! The adult Lapwings usually try to distract the dogs. (5/10)
The eggs also have other predators such as rodents, snakes, raptors etc. Here is a common Kestrel photographed by @clixbyman from NISER campus. (6/10)
It is natural that some of these eggs do not survive. @tutu0tu found some eggs that either dropped by a raptor or just stepped on by humans. (7/10)
The eggs have to survive about a month of incubation under these conditions. @tutu0tu noticed that the male and female take turns to incubate the eggs. (8/10)
Yesterday evening, @tutu0tu found that the eggs in one of the clutches were slightly cracked. On moving closer, he could hear the chicks calling from inside the eggs. *ignore the background songs playing on microphone* (9/10)
Today morning @tutu0tu found that the eggs had hatched! I wonder how many of these chicks will survive. (10/10)
