Abstract
Simple SummaryWe studied the defensive behaviour of 94 pairs of nesting Masked Lapwings, Vanellus miles, in response to two types of human stimuli: a pedestrian and a person pushing a lawn mower. We also examined the effectiveness of a commonly promoted deterrent to swooping (the presence of mock eyes placed on the back of a person’s head) for each stimulus type. Masked Lapwings responded more aggressively to a person pushing a lawn mower compared with pedestrians. Birds also remained closer to the nest in the presence of a lawn mower. The presence of eye stickers on the back of a pedestrian’s head decreased swooping behaviour; however, the presence of eye stickers worn by a person pushing a lawn mower increased swooping behaviour.Masked Lapwings, Vanellus miles, often come into ‘conflict’ with humans, because they often breed in close proximity to humans and actively defend their ground nests through aggressive behaviour, which typically involves swooping. This study examined whether defensive responses differed when nesting birds were confronted with different human stimuli (‘pedestrian alone’ vs. ‘person pushing a lawn mower’ approaches to nests) and tested the effectiveness of a commonly used deterrent (mock eyes positioned on the top or back of a person’s head) on the defensive response. Masked Lapwings did not swoop closer to a person with a lawn mower compared with a pedestrian, but flushed closer and remained closer to the nest in the presence of a lawn mower. The presence of eye stickers decreased (pedestrians) and increased (lawn mowers) swooping behaviour. Masked Lapwings can discriminate between different human activities and adjust their defensive behaviour accordingly. We also conclude that the use of eye stickers is an effective method to mitigate the human-lapwing ‘conflict’ in some, but not all, circumstances.
Highlights
Depredation is a major influence on the reproductive success of many bird species [1,2].A depredation event often results in the loss of entire clutches or broods and can cause breeding pairs to fail to successfully fledge offspring during a breeding season [2]
This study aims to determine if lapwings display higher levels of aggressive behaviour towards ground maintenance staff engaged in lawn mowing compared with the general public and whether eye stickers are an effective deterrent to aggressive swooping
This study aims to examine: 1. if lapwings can discriminate between different human activities, between pedestrians and ground maintenance personnel mowing lawns; 2. if the presence of eye stickers represents an effective way of managing lapwing attacks on people; and, 3. whether hatching success is influenced by parental defence
Summary
Depredation is a major influence on the reproductive success of many bird species [1,2].A depredation event often results in the loss of entire clutches or broods and can cause breeding pairs to fail to successfully fledge offspring during a breeding season [2]. Depredation is a major influence on the reproductive success of many bird species [1,2]. There is a trade-off between the risks associated with parental defence and future reproduction [3]. In order to maximise the number of offspring an individual produces over its lifetime, it needs to balance the risk to itself associated with defence against the enhanced survival of current offspring. Based on the risk to the parent, and the investment in current offspring and offspring survival, it is possible to predict an optimum level of parental defence [4,5,6]. Avian parental defence is diverse and can involve alarm calling, injury feigning, ‘false’ incubating or brooding, chasing, attacking or harassing a predator alone, with conspecifics or other species [5]. The most risk-prone form of parental defence is chasing or attacking a predator, but it can be the most effective form of defence [5,7]
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