looduskalender.ee

 

 

Kiivitajad rändel

 

 

In autumn lapwings leave our fields and shores in November at the latest, and if late autumn is warm the last ones don’t depart until December. In the migration period we can see up to thousand-bird flocks, they prefer mosaical and varying agricultural and wet landscapes, but in autumn rain is common anyway.

 

Migrant flocks forage on tilled fields and this takes about a third of the day, or four hours; searching for insect larva, caterpillars, spiders and similar creatures and all kinds of invertebrates, and for farmers this activity is of course welcome. To a small extent lapwings also feed on plant seeds.

 

The lapwing flock lands in a field and scatters. Each bird checks its area of ground thoroughly. They take only a step or two, seem to listen and grab the prey, run to the next spot and everything is repeated …

 

Seen from a distance lapwings look black-white-patterned, in reality the back plumage is bluish green and the underside of the tail reddish brown. The plumages of males and females are alike, only the female’s head crest is shorter.

 

Lapwings have many tormentors but they are courageously encountered. As skilled flyers they can set up air shows well worth watching.