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Australian Wildlife

  Masked Plover (Vanellus miles)





Masked Plover | Vanellus miles photo
Masked Plover photographed on suburban footpath, Brisbane. It is quite common in the suburbs, often heard calling at night.

Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.







MASKED PLOVER FACTS

Description
The Masked Plover is white below, with brown wings and back and a black crown. It has yellow wattle son face, and have a thorny spur from the joint of each wing

Other Names
Masked Lapwing

Size
36cm

Habitat
marshes, mudflats, beaches, grasslands, urban areas

Food
insects, larvae, earthworms

Breeding
Nest is a scrape in the ground in open area. Lays 3-5 eggs. The young birds are covered in down and can leave the nest a few hours after hatching.

Range
common throughout northern, central and eastern Australia

distribution map showing range of Vanellus miles in Australia

Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Charadriiformes
Family:Charadriidae
Genus:Vanellus
Species:miles
Common Name:Masked Plover

Relatives in same Genus
  Banded Lapwing (V. tricolor)