{"id":247510,"date":"2026-02-06T18:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T23:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fauna\/southern-lapwing\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:51:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T23:51:52","slug":"southern-lapwing","status":"publish","type":"fauna","link":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/faune-2\/southern-lapwing\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern lapwing"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vanellus chilensis<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":258239,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":""},"collection":[],"country":[59,11],"fauna-group":[27564],"fauna-type":[27217],"class_list":["post-247510","fauna","type-fauna","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","country-brazil","country-colombia","fauna-group-lapwings","fauna-type-birds"],"acf":{"scientific_name":"Vanellus chilensis","animal_description":"The Southern lapwing (*Vanellus chilensis*), also known as the \"quero-quero\" for its piercing alarm call, is a striking and spirited shorebird native to the grasslands and urban spaces of South America. It is easily identified by its elegant crest, piercing red eyes, and sophisticated plumage, which features gray-brown upperparts, a stark white belly, and a bold black bib on the chest. Beyond its appearance, the Southern lapwing possesses a unique defensive mechanism: sharp, rose-colored spurs located on the carpal joints of its wings, which it uses to swoop at and ward off potential threats. Renowned for its fearless territoriality and loud, metallic vocalizations, this bird is a vigilant guardian of its ground-based nests, making it one of the most charismatic and recognizable avian symbols of the continent.","animal_habitat":"This species is widely distributed across South America, extending from Panama and northern Colombia southward to the tip of the continent in Tierra del Fuego. It is a common resident throughout Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile, and has notably expanded its range northward into Central America in recent decades. It occupies a variety of open landscapes, ranging from sea level to high-altitude Andean valleys.\n\nIts preferred habitats include natural grasslands, savannas, and pastures, particularly those located near bodies of water such as rivers, lagoons, and marshes. This bird is also highly adaptable to human-altered environments, frequently colonizing urban areas. It is commonly found on golf courses, airports, sports fields, and suburban lawns, where short vegetation provides ideal conditions for foraging and nesting.","animal_behavior_and_reproduction":"Highly territorial and vocal, these birds are famous for their aggressive defense of nesting sites, utilizing piercing alarm calls and low-altitude swoops to deter intruders. They possess sharp bony spurs on their wings used for combat and frequently employ a \"broken-wing display\" to lure predators away from their offspring. While they may gather in large flocks during the non-breeding season, they typically maintain a social structure based on monogamous pairs or small family units that fiercely guard their chosen territory.\n\nNesting occurs in simple ground scrapes where both parents share incubation duties for a clutch of usually three to four camouflaged eggs. A unique aspect of their reproductive strategy is the occasional use of cooperative breeding, where additional \"helpers\" assist the primary pair in defending the territory. The chicks are precocial, leaving the nest shortly after hatching to forage while remaining under the vigilant protection of the adults, who continue to use aggressive displays and distractions to ensure their survival.","diet":"The Southern lapwing is primarily an insectivore, consuming a diverse array of terrestrial invertebrates such as beetles, grasshoppers, ants, and earthworms, though it also targets small aquatic prey like crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish in damp environments. A fascinating aspect of its foraging behavior is the \"foot-trembling\" technique, where the bird rapidly vibrates one foot against the ground to disturb hidden insects or draw earthworms to the surface. While they are often seen hunting in open pastures and grasslands during the day, they are notably opportunistic and will frequently forage at night, especially in areas with artificial lighting where insects are abundant. Their diet is highly adaptable, allowing them to thrive in various landscapes ranging from urban parks to rural wetlands, where they pick prey directly from the surface or just beneath the soil with their short, pointed bills.","colors":"The Southern lapwing displays a greyish-brown back with a bronze sheen, a white belly, and a prominent black breast band and face. It features striking red eyes, pinkish legs, and hidden red wing spurs, while its earthy dorsal plumage provides camouflage in grasslands, contrasted by bold black-and-white wing patterns revealed in flight.","fun_facts":"These birds are famously equipped with sharp, red bony spurs on their wing joints, which they use as weapons to strike at intruders during aggressive aerial dives. Notorious for their \"false alarm\" tactics, they often perform a deceptive \"broken-wing\" display to lure predators away from their ground nests or even pretend to incubate eggs in a decoy location to mislead observers. Their bold, territorial nature and piercing, metallic calls have earned them the nickname \"sentinels of the pampas,\" and they are so well-adapted to human environments that they are frequently seen unfazed by ongoing matches on South American soccer fields.","conservation_status_&_efforts":"Currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, the population of this species is increasing and expanding its geographical range. It is a highly adaptable bird that has benefited significantly from human activity, particularly the conversion of forests into open pastures, suburban lawns, and airports, which provide the short-grass habitats it prefers for foraging and nesting. Because it thrives in both rural and urban environments across South America, it is not considered a species at risk.\n\nSpecific conservation measures are generally unnecessary due to its stable and growing numbers, so there are no targeted recovery programs currently in place. While it may face localized threats such as exposure to agricultural pesticides, nest trampling by livestock, or predation by domestic pets in urban areas, these factors do not pose a significant threat to the global population. Most management efforts focus on public education to help humans coexist with the birds during their aggressive nesting periods rather than protecting the species from decline.","endemic":false,"conservation_status":"Least Concern","ebird_link":{"url":"https:\/\/ebird.org\/species\/soulap1","title":"View on Ebird","target":"_blank"},"animal_related_page":{"url":"https:\/\/animalia.bio\/southern-lapwing","title":"View on Animalia","target":"_blank"},"fauna_family":"Charadriidae","fauna_known_nicknames":"Quero-quero, Tero-tero, Queltehue, Teru-teru","fauna_average_length":"32\u201338 cm \/ 12.5\u201315 in","fauna_average_weight":"250\u2013425 g \/ 8.8\u201315 oz","fauna_wingspan":"80\u201390 cm \/ 31\u201335 in","fauna_key_physical_feature":"Reddish bony wing spurs and a long, thin black crest on the back of the head","fauna_primary_diet":"Primarily Insectivore","fauna_geographical_range":"Widespread throughout South America, from Panama to Tierra del Fuego","fauna_preferred_habitat":"Open grasslands, pastures, wetlands, and urban areas like parks or soccer fields","fauna_social_structure":"Social and gregarious, typically found in pairs or small family groups","fauna_breeding_site":"Shallow scrape on the open ground","fauna_conservation_status":"Least Concern (LC)","fauna_population_trend":"Increasing","fauna_spanish_name":"Alcarav\u00e1n","fauna_french_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna\/247510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/fauna"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=247510"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=247510"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-group?post=247510"},{"taxonomy":"fauna-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/remote-expeditions.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fauna-type?post=247510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}