Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
About the Masked Lapwing
The masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia (particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent), New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms and has several distinctive calls. It is common in Australian fields, open land and where there is lots of water, and is known for its defensive swooping behaviour during the nesting season.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 96 recordings for this species: 46 CC BY-NC-ND · 24 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Related species you can hear
- Northern LapwingVanellus vanellusrecording
- Red-wattled LapwingVanellus indicusrecording
- Sociable LapwingVanellus gregariusrecording
This species has no recording here yet — these relatives do, so you can hear what the family sounds like.