Justification This conspicuous species has not been recorded since 1940, and it is likely to have declined severely owing to extensive habitat degradation and destruction, perhaps compounded by hunting. However, not all potential habitat has been surveyed, and local reports need to be followed up with dedicated surveys. Any remaining population is likely to be tiny, and for these reasons it is treated as Critically Endangered.

Family/Sub-family Charadriidae

Species name author (Wagler, 1827)

Taxonomic source(s) Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993)

Identification 27-29 cm. Large, long-legged wader. Generally dark, with large yellow or white wattles. Deep black head, belly-patch and flight feathers, carpal joint with curved black spurs. Dark brown upperparts, breast and upper belly. White uppertail-coverts and vent. Orange or yellow legs. Similar spp. Masked Lapwing V. miles could conceivably occur as a vagrant, easily differentiated by conspicuous white underparts and reddish legs. Voice Distinctive, loud call transcribed "beberak".

Population estimate

Population trend

Range estimate (breeding/resident)

Country endemic?

<50

unknown

-

Yes

Range & population Vanellus macropterus is known with certainty only from the island of Java, Indonesia, where it inhabited marshes and river deltas in the west (on the north coast) and the east (on the south coast). A specimen and two eggs collected in the 19th century may have derived from Sumatra, and there is an unsubstantiated claim that it occurred on Timor (at least three specimens). It was described as local and uncommon, apparently only ever encountered in scattered pairs, and has not been recorded since 1940. The fact that it was reputedly impossible to overlook suggests very strongly that it is no longer present at any site studied in recent decades by ornithologists. However, there are areas that have not been recently surveyed and recent unconfirmed reports that require investigation², and recently translated observations from the 1920s suggest that its habitat requirements may have been less restricted than previously thought, perhaps providing some further hope for its continued existence³.

Ecology: It inhabited "wide, steppe-like marshes" in river deltas, keeping to the least flooded areas during the rainy season. It also frequented damp pastures (including those grazed by buffalo) bordering marshes thickly covered in sedges and low aquatic vegetation, open areas near freshwater ponds, and was found in agricultural fields and rice paddy³. It occurred in isolated pairs, often in rather large areas, suggesting that it must have been a naturally low-density species. It was probably resident.

Threats Its decline has been attributed to 'merciless' hunting and trapping. However, it seems far more likely that high levels of human disturbance and conversion of its habitat to aquaculture and agricultural land were the principal agents. The fact that it may have been a naturally low-density species could have exacerbated its susceptibility to extinction in the face of large-scale habitat loss and disturbance.

Conservation measures underway The species has been protected under Indonesian law since 1978, albeit probably rather too late to be of any influence. Several recent searches of historic and potential sites for this species have all drawn a blank but all potential sites have yet to be searched.

Conservation measures proposed Tanjung Air needs surveying urgently, and other coastal wetlands and grasslands should be searched on Java and elsewhere in the Greater Sundas. Initiate immediate habitat protection in the event of its rediscovery.

References BirdLife International (2001). 1. Butchart et al. (in press). 2. P.R. Rudyanto in litt. (2004). 3. van Balen and Nijman (2007).

Further web sources of information

Fully detailed species accounts from the Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book (BirdLife International 2001), together with new information collated since the publication of the Red Data Book

Text account compilers Phil Benstead (BirdLife International), Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), John Pilgrim (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International), Joe Tobias (BirdLife International)

Contributors Peter Rudolph Rudyanto (BirdLife International Asia Division), Bas (S.) van Balen (Conservation International)

IUCN Red List evaluators Jeremy Bird (BirdLife International), Stuart Butchart (BirdLife International), Andy Symes (BirdLife International)

Recommended citation BirdLife International (2009) Species factsheet: Vanellus macropterus. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 10/2/2010

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

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