Red-wattled lapwing - Vanellus indicus
| Common Name : | Red-wattled lapwing. |
| Binomial Name : | Vanellus indicus |
| Synonym : | Hoplopterus indicus |
| Family : | Charadriidae |
| Bengali Name : | Hottiti ( |
| Photo Taken : | Bangladesh |
Red-wattled lapwing is a very attractive bird that is mostly seen around our southern part of Bangladesh. It has several names in Bangladesh, but most frequently used name is 'Hottiti', though I found this Bengali name Laal lotika hottiti (
Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is a wader bird (means having long leg) that is mostly seen around the bank of the river or the wetlands. It's mostly seen around the southern part of Bangladesh and a very few in numbers are seen at other parts. But worldwide its range is varied from the Western to Eastern Asia through our South Asia.
This is a very attractive bird. Back at the head, breast, and few portion of the wing and tail is black in color. Lower portion of the front side is white along with the neck side. The wing is light brown in color with a shade of purple. But the most eye catching part of the bird is its red wattle in front of the eyes. Also the beak is red in color with a black at the tip. eye color is red with a small pupil at the middle. The eyes are having a red circle around. This circle along with the red wattle makes it as if it is wearing a red spectacle. Long legs are yellow in color. Both male and female are similar in terms of the outlook.
Though Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is beautiful, but it is very lazy to make a nest. It just makes a lazy nest on the ground and lays eggs on there. The color of the eggs are camouflaged with the color of the soil. Since they make the nest directly on ground, the predators like mongoose, kites, etc are a great threat for them. This bird can distract the predators from the nest by feigning.
Red-wattled lapwing mainly moves in a pair or in a very small group. Small insects like ants, beetles, snails and other invertebrates are their favorite diet. They take their meal mostly during the day time as they are diurnal.
The call of the Red-wattled lapwing very loud and high pitched. The call is like 'Hot-ti-ti Hot-ti-ti'. Our Bengali name has taken from that call. Other birds and animals nearby trust on that call and they take that call as an alarm for the predators or hunters. But as per the experts, this bird can produce different other calls which they use for different purposes.
Photos of Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) were taken from Bangladesh as follows:
1) December 2014: Kukri-Mukri, Bhola.
2) March 2015: Uttora sector-18, Dhaka.
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