The biology and systematic relationships of Crowned, Blackwinged and Lesser Blackwinged Plovers.

Abstract

Plovers was compared with particular reference to breeding biology, feeding ecology and habitat preference. Crowned and Blackwinged Plovers coexisted in mixed flocks in grasslands which aided predator detect ion and defence against predators. Lesser Blackwinged Plovers were opportunistic in their use of habitat and were found in habitats ranging from the muddy edges of pans to woodlands. Body size was found to have an important effect on the breeding biology of these birds, affecting incubation behaviour and reproductive pattern. The behaviour of Lesser Blackwinged Plovers differed considerably from that of Crowned and Blackwinged Plovers. Crowned and Blackwinged Plovers appear to constitute a superspecies on account of their behavioural and morphological similarities while the Lesser Blackwinged Plover is possibly closely related to the ancestral stock of the genus Vanellus.