Red-wattled Lapwing
Vanellus indicus
They are famous for their loud alarm call that sounds exactly like 'did-he-do-it?', earning them the nickname of the 'did-he-do-it bird' among locals.
- Scientific name
- Vanellus indicus
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Charadriidae › Vanellus
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Open grasslands, agricultural fields, dry lake beds, and margins of wetlands.
- Diet
- Insects (beetles, ants, termites), snails, worms, and occasionally seeds or grains.
- Range
- India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia
- Size
- 32-35 cm in length, with a wingspan of 80-82 cm.
- Lifespan
- 6-10 years
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to intensive agriculture, urbanization, pesticide poisoning, and nest predation by stray dogs and crows.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless but highly vocal. If you hear their alarm call, you are close to their ground nest. Watch your step carefully to avoid stepping on camouflaged eggs. Keep a safe distance of at least 20 meters. If a bird swoops at you, back away slowly; they do not attack to injure, only to distract.
The red-wattled lapwing ( Vanellus indicus ) is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements and the sounds have been variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to the colloquial name of did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far...
Photo: Yves Bas, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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