Thursday, September 9, 2010

Circular motion

Did-he-do-it? Did-he-do-it? 
No, it's got nothing to do with Grant and what he did. Rather, it concerns one(or a couple) noisy bird that has been demanding answers in the vicinity of Sebana Cove. Ever the skeptic eh? Don't believe us? Go ahead then. Watch the video. We dare you!


Flying in circles (Vanellus indicus)



Hmm... okay. Maybe it doesn't sound quite like "did-he-do-it", but apparently some people out there in our world so blue feel otherwise. So convinced are they that they're even going around calling it the Did-he-do-it bird. We prefer to stick with the more unimaginative name of Red-wattled Lapwing(Vanellus indicus).


This distinctively coloured bird is said to be relatively common in Malaysia, other parts of Southeast Asia(Singapore being the exception yet again- endangered there) as well as West and South Asia. Such distinctive colouration and yet we managed to overlook it in a book. Old age and failing eyesight, forgive us. We didn't manage to get close enough to get a good shot of this highly conspicuous bird, unfortunately. Even though it hung around the area for quite awhile, advertising its presence with its bird song, if you can call it that.

Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

The bird was often on the ground, running around in short spurts, and then stopping just as soon as it had started. It descends to the realm of the flightless for a very predictable reason- feeding. It is known to pick insects, snails and other invertebrates off the ground. We didn't get to see it catch anything though; no, unfortunately, he(or she) did not do it.

References
BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Vanellus indicus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 24/3/2010

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