General News
17 June, 2026
Nesting time
A NESTING pair of Masked Lapwings has settled down behind the Cobden Uniting Church, taking care of four eggs together.
The pair was discovered on Friday, June 12 to the excitement of Cobden Uniting Church members, who were surprised to discover the nest on their grounds.
“We’re going to put stakes in the ground and put down corflute and write on it so people will be aware that they’re there,” Cobden Uniting Church member Barbara Cowley said.
“Since we’ve been alerted to the fact that they’re there we’re going to try our best to look after them until the babies hatch.”
Birdlife Australia senior advisor public relations Sean Dooley said it was slightly early in the year for Masked Lapwings to be nesting.
“In Victoria, they are one of the first birds to nest, usually starting at the beginning of July,” he said.
“But there are records, particularly from the north including the Murray Valley of June nests, so it’s unusual but not unprecedented.
“Masked Lapwings are ground-nesters, basically laying their eggs in a bare scrape in the ground.
“They rely on camouflage of both the eggs and chicks to avoid predators – that and the parents being eternally vigilant and quite aggressive in driving away potential threats.
“Both parents sit on the eggs and when one bird is incubating, the other will be keeping watch.”
Mr Dooley said the birds tended to nest right out in the open in order to detect the approach of predators and drive them off, or distract them with a ‘broken wing display’ whereby they pretend to be injured to lure the predator away from eggs or chicks.
“It seems in some cases that they have learnt that areas with a bit of human activity might mean daylight predators at least are less likely to get close so in some instances, as perhaps with the church, they might nest in smaller open areas,” he said.
“But this means that they can see humans as threats and are not averse to swooping.
“They also have a small yellow spur on the bend of the wing (which is why a lot of people know them as Spur-winged Plovers), so that combined with their clattering alarm call can really freak people out.”
Mr Dooley said the best way for people to ensure the protection of the parents and the eggs was to give them space.
“Roping off the nesting area is great, but even when the chicks have hatched, they rely on camouflage and will sit quietly on the ground when the parents sound the alarm, so they could still get run over,” he said.
“If you know of a lapwing nest nearby, keep pets away – no dogs off leash and no cats outside.
“If possible it would be good to keep stock off the patch where they are nesting too.”
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