Javan LapwingVanellus macropterus

Conservation Actions

Conservation and Research Actions 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. One of the most recent searches was carried out at Muara Gembong in West Java, where interviews with local people produced strong evidence that the species could still be present (N. Brickle in litt. 2011). Searches took place at Belitung Island, southern Sumatra, during 2012 (M. Iqbal in litt. 2012).

Conservation and Research Actions Proposed
Coastal wetlands and grasslands should continue to be searched on Java and elsewhere in the Greater Sundas. Initiate immediate habitat protection in the event of its rediscovery.

Location Information

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. A series of surveys carried out between 2001 and 2012 have failed to locate any individuals, but there are several unconfirmed reports from local people in the Bekasi and Lumajuang districts (Iqbal et al. 2013). Rediscovery of the species in areas with historic records is considered unlikely (Iqbal et al. 2013). However, there are potentially suitable areas that have not been surveyed and 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 existence (van Balen and Nijman 2007). Wet grassland on Belitung Island is a possible location requiring searches (Iqbal et al. 2013).

Population Information

Any remaining population is assumed to be tiny (numbering fewer than 50 individuals and mature individuals) based on a lack of records since 1940 and failure of recent surveys to locate this species.

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.

IUCN Red List Account Link

Please click here to see the species' IUCN Red List Account page.