Южноамериканский чибис (Vanellus chilensis)

Species of bird from South America
Speciesbox
| image = Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilenis lampronotus). JPG
| image2 = Southern lapwing (Vanellus chilensis lampronotus) 2. JPG
| image2 caption = both V. c. lampronotusThe Pantanal, Brazil
| status = LC
| status system = IUCN3.1
| status ref =
| genus = Vanellus
| species = chilensis
| authority = (Molina, 1782)
| synonyms =
Parra chilensis Molina, 1782
Belonopterus chilensis (Molina, 1782)
Vanellus grisescens Grant, 1912

This lapwing is the only crested wader in South America. It is in length and weighs approximately The upperparts are mainly brownish grey, with a bronze glossing on the shoulders. The head is particularly striking; mainly grey with a black forehead and throat patch extending onto the black breast. A white border separates the black of the face from the grey of the head and crest. The rest of the underparts are white and the eye ring, legs, and most of the bill are pink. It is equipped with red bony extensions under the wings (spurs), used to intimidate foes and fight birds of prey. During its slow flapping flight, the southern lapwing shows a broad white wing bar separating the grey brown of the back and wing coverts from the black flight feathers. The rump is white and the tail black. The call is a very loud and harsh keek keek keek. There are three or four subspecies, differing slightly in head coloration and voice. Vanellus chilensis fretensis from Patagonia is sometimes included in the nominate subspecies V. c. chilensis. The northern subspecies—V. c. cayennensis from the north and V. c. lampronotus from the south of the Amazon River—are sometimes separated as a distinct species, Vanellus cayennensis. These two subspecies have a browner head—particularly the northernmost birds—and the white face band (broad in the northern and narrow in the southern one) does not reach to the center of the crown. However, birds from the general region of Uruguay apparently intergrade.

In prehistoric times, the species seems to have been more widespread. Late Pleistocene lapwing bones from Florida were initially described as Dorypaltus prosphatus but have since been regarded as indistinguishable from those of the southern lapwing of the time, except by being smaller. Though they may not be specifically distinct, the lack of this bird's occurrence out of South America on a regular basis today suggests that they may be better considered a paleosubspecies V. c. prosphatus. This would have disappeared as the last ice age ended, but biogeography suggests that the species must also have occurred in Central America and/or the Caribbean. The entirely extinct prehistoric species V. downsi is closely related to the southern lapwing found in California; its remains have been found at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. Separated by the Rocky Mountains, V. downsi makes an unlikely ancestor to the southern lapwing, but it is certainly possible that it was a northwestern sister species. and other small invertebrates (including earthworms and cutworms), as well as small fish, They breed on grassland and sometimes on ploughed fields, and have an aerobatic flapping display flight. It lays 2–3 (rarely 4) olive brown eggs in a bare ground scape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders (including humans) by means of threats, vocalizations, and low flights. After the breeding season, it disperses into wetlands and seasonally flooded tropical grassland.