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Native Vegetation Helped Camouflage Ground Nests of Indian Thick-Knees and Red-Wattled Lapwings in Jodhpur

Indian thick-knee standing among vegetation at Lakhota Lake, Jamnagar, India
Research · Reproduction & development

Field observations from a small protected urban site in Jodhpur, India, documented how Indian thick-knees (Burhinus indicus) and red-wattled lapwings (Vanellus indicus) used vegetation during breeding. The study, published in 2026, followed nesting habitat, breeding behaviour and interactions with plants from November 2022 to November 2025 on the campus of the Botanical Survey of India’s Arid Zone Regional Centre. The observations covered three Indian thick-knee breeding pairs and five red-wattled lapwing pairs.

Indian thick-knees nested on the ground among dry leaves, fallen fruits and other plant material that closely matched the colour and pattern of their eggs and plumage. The observations also documented adults guarding nesting areas, hiding among vegetation and actively defending young and nest sites. The birds used the same small urban habitat for feeding, including observations of thick-knees taking gastropods.

The two species used different combinations of camouflage and defence

Red-wattled lapwings used more open nesting sites but likewise relied on camouflage and active parental defence. The researchers documented territorial encounters between the two ground-nesting species and spatial separation among nests. One lapwing pair laid a second clutch in 2025 after losing its first brood. Two of the first four eggs were taken by a monitor lizard, and the two chicks that hatched later disappeared. The parents moved 20–40 metres and laid four more eggs in May; all four hatched in June.

Vegetation provided both concealment and food habitat

The authors describe the vegetation as both hiding cover and habitat for insects eaten by the chicks. They suggest that retaining native trees, shrubs and herbs could support these birds in Jodhpur’s changing urban landscape, while noting that the effects of vegetation on breeding success were not experimentally tested.

Sources and image credit

  1. Arigela, R. K., Singh, R. K., Bano, R., Kathula, T., & Reddy, C. S. (2026). Indian Thick-knee (Burhinus indicus) and Red-wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus) interactions with plants at the urban landscapes (Jodhpur, India). Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis Studia Naturae, 11(1).Field observations of nesting, parental defence and plant use at the Botanical Survey of India's Jodhpur campus, November 2022–November 2025.

Image: Dr. Raju Kasambe — Indian thick-knee at Lakhota Lake, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, 16 December 2017. Representative species photograph; cropped to 16:9. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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Reproduction & development

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Indian Thick-knee Burhinus indicus Explore species Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus Explore species

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