Thread: VIDEO: Spur-wing Plovers - Interesting Zig Zagging behavior

I was out in the apple orchard from before sunrise this morning, and witnessed this interesting zig zagging from these Plovers ;-)

They’re making it harder for you Clint. At least, that’s what they think they’re doing.

its good plover now....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

its good plover now....

Sure is, i got them both, the other one came back and landed and received the same treatment. They're not just noisey but stupid too!

Lol splat

You missed an epic opportunity to get a two for one deal, Just needed to have the right angle

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

You missed an epic opportunity to get a two for one deal, Just needed to have the right angle

Whilist they were one behind the other a couple of times there was too much distance behind them for that to ever work with this cartridge, the little 20gr vmax blows up violently and theres no direct pass thru, other than tiny fragments blowing up like a tiny handgrenade.

Lapwings do zigzag a lot during their in flight attack, your video shows more than curiosity and I’d say slight aggression at your presence.

Their mistake was underestimating your capabilities

Apart from their annoying screeching what harm do these plovers do?

Talking about screeching birds,those plovers have got nothing on the falcon(I think?) that lives around here.
It seems to spend most of it's time flying around screeching when it's not parked in a tall tree screeching
Don't know how it ever catches any prey coz it sure ain't stealthy but seems to manage
Sure has plenty of energy to fly around screeching

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

If you leave plovers alone around ponds, or anywhere you want ducks, pheasants etc the plovers will keep the hawks away.

They try to keep the Hawkes away, the plovers certainly rark them up. My house backs onto a reserve with a creek thru it and farmland beyond that. Lots of plovers out there, lots of Pukes, some ducks, and the Hawkes are always flying around looking for a feed. The Plovers give them grief, but the hawkes dont get detered. Ive lived here for 12 years and work from home and my office windows looks over it all.

Same deal in the Orchards, theres always plenty of Hawkes hanging about due to the continual supply of freshly shot rabbits. The plovers never seem to win the battle agaisnt the hawkes. I do know the Hawkes enjoy ripping the meat off the plovers too ;-)

Originally Posted by hamsav

Huh , well there you go ,I always thought they were protected ,which is good coz I shot at heaps of them over the years ( to be fair we did have a lot of "accidents" ). We used to aim low and see how many times you could put one up before it finally got the hint and buggered off.

They use to be protected prior to about 2008 from memory.

The feather shedding behavior was pretty interesting too.

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Apart from their annoying screeching what harm do these plovers do?

Provide live targets....??


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Falcon screeching like that is either: attempting to scare small birds into flight so they can ping them for a meal, or from a tall tree or rock outcrop, letting other Falcon know that this is their territitory