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This four month long study, which was part of a long-term project, dealt primarily with breeding ecology of the species and sheds light on some fascinating behaviors. We observed polyandry during pair formation. All the individuals forming a pair remained monogamous after nesting for the entire breeding season. Males and females both were involved in mate guarding, territory guarding, nest building, brooding eggs and chicks as well as nest defense. Courtship involved display of fake feeding, fake nest building behaviors. Mate guarding and territory guarding involved fake feeding, fake nest building, synchronized fake feeding as well as mating for bond display. Combats between individuals for mate or territory were non-aggressive. Mating only happened when females sat down in typical mating position for males to mount over them. No sexual coercion was observed between males and females. Being medium size plover and a non-aggressive species Yellow-wattled lapwing used various defense strategies to mainly distract the predators and drive them away from nest or chicks. These strategies varied depending on the predator. Some of the strategies that are unique to the species and have not been documented before are fake feeding, fake nest display and mating as defence. We also documented nest site fidelity through individuals ringed in previous years. We documented egg color polymorphism. Color of eggs laid by an individual remains same despite of change in the ground substrate where eggs are laid. Anthropogenic activities caused significantly high disturbance during the brooding of nests and chicks thus affecting the hatching and survival success.
Key words: Yellow-wattle lapwing, breeding behaviour, mating systems, polyandry, defence strategies, anthropogenic pressure, survival success, nest-site fidelity
