| Vanella miles - Masked Lapwing |
| One of the best known most conspicuous and commonest of all local shore birds. Still sometimes called by their obsolete name of Spur-winged Plover, they are noted for their sometime aggressive behaviour in defense of eggs or young. Lapwings feed on invertebrates taken from the surface sand of estuaries and from flooded or saturated pasture. They will visit ocean beaches and rock platforms, but show a preference for open mudflats or shallow wetlands. |