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Study of Breeding Biology and Egg Parameters of Red-Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) in Agri- Fields of Sirsa, Haryana, India

Vanellus indicus belongs to the family Charadriidae of the order Charadriiformes. The red-wattled lapwing is a terrestrial bird of open fields. They prefer to live in outskirts of towns and villages in open fields near wetlands and are often found in pairs or trios. This species occurs geographically and generally from Iran, Iraq, the Arabian/Persian Gulf to all South Asia including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Bengladesh (Ali and Ripley, 2001; Birdlife International, 2009). Globally, conservation status of red wattled lapwing is least concern (IUCN, 2018). These are common, widespread and large waders of Indian subcontinent. Redwattled lapwings are about 35cm long with brownish back having purplish sheen but the head, chest, front and back of neck are black. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 5 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com

A patch of white color can be seen running from tail through the belly flanking the neck to the sides of the crown. A red colored wattle in front of each eye, a dark grey tipped red beak and long yellow legs are seen. In flight, prominent white wing bars formed by the white on the secondary coverts. Males and females are indistinguishable but males have a longer wing with a longer carpel spur. It usually feeds on beetles, ants, caterpillars and vegetable residues (Grimmett et al., 2008).
Casting of nest is an important part of bird's biology as it plays a key role in shaping the relationships between parents with their offspring. Nidification behavior is also very important for maintaining the ecological and genetically balances, (Saxena and Saxena, 2013). In natural conditions, the eggs of Vanellus indicus are laid in a 'ground scrape' or a depression, sometimes fringed with pebbles and goat, or, hare droppings (Sharma 1992), although there are reports of breeding on buildings in cities (Muralidhar and Barve, 2012). Vanellus indicus is a monogamous bird which is very specific about breeding areas. The mating site is chosen by male whereas female lapwing lay about 3-4 eggs in a little depression in open areas or ground which is surrounded by pebbles or bits of hard earth (Saxena and Saxena, 2013). The courtship behavior is displayed from March to June. Incubation of about takes 28-30 days is performed by both the guardians followed by hatching. Precocial chicks are capable of leaving the nest almost immediately after hatching and are able to follow the parents in search of food. Both guardians secure nesting region, and also ensure that the young have developed full plumage (3 to 5 weeks) and have become strong fliers, (Saxena and Saxena,2013;Muralidhar and Barve, 2013). Factors like predators including house crow (Corvus splendens), pariah kite (Milvus migrans), dogs, cats and anthropogenic activities ( Khalil et al., 2018), human threats to ground-nesting birds (Fletcher et al., 2005) or the inadvertent trampling of eggs or chicks by cattle (Taej Mundkur, pers. comm. 2011) are responsible for the destruction of eggs. The aim of the present study was to study the breeding biology and egg parameters of redwattled lapwing in agricultural fields of Haryana.

Materials and Methods
The breeding biology of Vanellus indicus was studied in agricultural fields of village Ramnagaria, Sirsa, Haryana during the month of February to April, 2020. A pair of red wattled lapwing was spotted. Frequent sightings of bird(s) during the breeding period were suggestive of the presence of a breeding pair there. Nesting material used and site of nesting of nest was observed with naked eyes throughout the study period. The observations were taken with full precautions without disturbing birds. Number of eggs laid, clutch size, incubation period, number of hatchlings were recorded. Nests were monitored twice a day i.e. in morning and evening. Number of eggs damaged and hatching success was also observed. The egg length and width was measured using a digital LCD vernier caliper. Digital weighing machine was used to weigh the eggs and recordings were taken. 2 eggs were collected from the nests to calculate the egg parameters including egg volume, egg shape index and specific gravity. To estimate the egg volume data was analyzed using empirical formula given by Galbraith, 1988, using parameters length (L) and breadth (B): Egg Volume= (0.457) × (L) × (B 2 ) × 10 -3 ml Egg shape index was estimated using the micrometer according to Anderson et al., (2004) using the equation: × 100 According to this the eggs were classified with respect to shape index (SI), namely as a sharp egg (SI < 72), a normal (standard) egg (SI = 72-76) or a round egg (SI > 76) (Sarica and Erensayin, 2009).
Egg specific gravity was calculated according to Stadelman and Cotterill, (1995) using the equation: Hatching success was calculated with the traditional method (% of eggs that hatched successfully out of total eggs laid). Parental care and foraging habits during the incubation period were recorded. In addition, their behavior towards potential predators and human beings was also noted. Photographs were taken through a Sony DSLR Cyber-shot digital camera.

Breeding Biology of Red wattle lapwing
The birds were spotted moving in pairs between 4 -6 March, 2020 in agricultural fields. The male initiated the courtship. Male reached first towards the female with its puffed feathers, fanned tail, the neck in stretched position and the beak pointing upwards. The male bird showed tumbling flights and produced songs. Female responded to these antics of the male by giving short, quickly repeated calls. Singh, (2004) also observed that the male produces mating call is in the form songs, show flights and mock.
The territory was first acquired by the male followed by call notes to the female and once the female arrived she was greeted by the male by wheeling in air. A territory was maintained by the breeding pair in the surrounding of their nest. The site selection has been studied in birds (Clark and Shulter, 1999). The area of territory was protected by both the parents and any intrusion in that area resulted in alarming calls by the parents and they also attacked the intruder.
Nest building started on 15 th March 2020. Both birds participated in nest building. The construction of nest started from early morning up to noon and then in evening on successive days which was similar to nest building behavior of passerine birds (Collias, 1997). Both parents participated equally in nest construction. Initially, they gathered nesting material like pebbles, sticks from surrounding areas which was in accordance with Balkhande and Shaikh, (2017). Then the pair scraped off the upper layer of the hardened soil on the ground and made a depression using toes and pebbles were placed in the nest one by one using their beaks. The width and depth of the nest measured was 24.5 cm and 3.4cm respectively. The nest was perfectly in camouflage to the surrounding land color and texture due to which it was very difficult to locate the nest of this lapwing.
The size of clutch in Red-wattled lapwing was observed to be of four eggs which were in range of 3-4 eggs reported by Kumar & Sharma (2011). The eggs were laid on alternate days starting from 21 March 2020 till 25 March 2020 i.e. in 5 days while Muralidhar and Barve (2013) observed that cryptic four eggs were laid in a period of four days. The arrangement of the eggs was such that the edges meet in the center, making it easier for the lapwing to incubate the eggs.
The eggs of Red wattle lapwing were dotterel type much pointed towards the other with a pale olive green color. On the surface dark brownish or black markings or spots were observed all over the egg. The incubation process took near about 27 days which was more than Saxena and Saxena, (2013), Balkhande and Shaikh (2017) who reported 24-25 days of incubation (2017) and less than Muralidhar and Barve (2013) who reported 30-32 days of incubation. The nest was observed during the whole study period. Three eggs hatched out successfully on 17 th April, 2020 at a time difference of 2.5 -3 hours between each hatching which was immensely different from the observations of Saxena and Saxena (2013) who reported that the young hatched out one after the other starting at an interval of 46-48 hours. One egg didn't hatched and remained unattended by both parents. The hatching success of eggs calculated was 75%. The broken shells were cleared away from the nest and dropped into an outer area by both the parents.
After hatching the male and female Lapwing were observed to jointly take up the all responsibility of rearing the young ones as they were constantly vigilant and called incessantly. They remained active at all hours and were often heard even past midnight, probably driving away potential predators. The hatchlings were covered with grayish brown colored feathers. They had a broad white collar, a black pectoral band, the chin and rest of the under parts were white tinged whereas the belly and the flanks were light brownish colored. The newly born chickens were nidifugous as they left the nest as soon as they were dry and were able to move about with great ease. Their brown color helped them to blend in the surroundings. The brooding mother kept freshly hatched young warm at night. Day brooding stops after 3-5 days of first hatching. Night brooding stopped only after the chicks were partly fledged which took about 14 days. The hatchlings were able to fly within 21-26 days after hatching (Table 1 and Fig. 1).

Eggs parameters of red wattle lapwing
Egg length, width and weight observed were 40mm, 30.17mm and 20.27gm respectively which were in accordance with the observations of Kaur and Khera, (2017). Egg volume, egg shape index and egg specific gravity calculated were 16.63ml, 75.42 and 1.21g/cm 3 respectively. As per the value of shape index (75.42) the eggs of red-wattled lapwing were classified as a normal (standard) egg with SI = 72-76.
Both the partners incubated the eggs but most of the time in a day female did most the work of incubation. The male helped the female in some time mostly during the hot afternoons in scorching heat of sun (Table 2).

Acknowledgement
I express my gratitude to everyone who supported me and to Dr. Kamalpreet Kaur, for the keen interest she took in me. She explained out to me solutions to the problems that had a straining effect. Without her help it was a matter of acute impossibility to propel in this endeavour. It is a matter of profound privilege, and pleasure to pay my sincere and heartfelt thanks to her. I am also very grateful to Gaurav Narwal who edited the manuscript.