Higher rates of non-breeding territory occupancy of urban compared with rural Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles on Phillip Island, Victoria

On Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia, many ground-nesting birds, such as Masked Lapwings Vanellus miles, breed in urbanised areas. While lapwings differ in adult maternal condition, parental defence and reproductive success between urban and rural habitats on Phillip Island, no survey is currently available of territorial occupancy during the non-breeding season. We surveyed 1104 lapwings (21 were flagged) from a vehicle and traversed every road on Phillip Island during the non-breeding season (March 2011). We systematically collected sightings of individually flagged lapwings captured on nests, and found 41% of urban lapwings were on territory, almost double the rate (22%) of occupancy of rural territories. All lapwings which remained on rural territories were located close to urbanised or human-maintained habitats. Although more research is needed, for this species, we hypothesise that urban habitats on Phillip Island appear superior to ex-urban habitats, perhaps because of the absence of Red Foxes Vulpes vulpes (which are usually at their most abundant in urban areas elsewhere), enhanced urban food resources, and the option of low-disturbance residential breeding sites in yards attached to holiday houses.