Spurwings in the garden

[seaslug]

on Victoria Parade.

[Barkly]

They do know how to pick a background!

[Phoenix]

Nice to see that busy birds also stop to smell the flowers.

[P Plates]

Nice pic. We call them plovers up here and I always love their markings and colours. Whenever I have a camera in hand I take one step towards them and they take 3 in the other direction.

[millicat]

It is like they are on a catwalk.
I too have always known them to be Plovers but when I got my birdbook I found they are Masked Lapwings. Hubby calls them kamakazes as they dive bomb in breeding season.

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[kathiemt]

I didn't realise they were called that. I've always thought of them as masked lapwings or plovers. I love how they hang around places where people hang out. Lovely colours in this shot.

[seaslug]

You are all correct. Spurwing is purely a descriptive term and it refers to the sharp spur at the 'elbow' joint of each wing. They're clearly visible when they are in 'Kamakazi' mode.

[kathiemt]

And they certainly do that kamikazi mode!