# Hunting > Varminting and Small Game Hunting >  Spur winged plovers

## Dundee

Whats your thoughts about these aviation threats. They like flat ground near mud and have no predators except the hay mower when it gets dry enough.



Nasty wee birds can cut a small native bird from the sky with the barb on the wing.

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## Spanners

12 auto and mag extension ...

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## faregame

scored 2 with 1 shot a few weeks ago - didn't even slow down

nasty as barb though

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## hunter308

Shoot the pricks, had those bastards going after me when I was in Te Aroha those feathered turds thought they were shit hot till I rolled up in the bosses terrano and took the .22 to them.

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## gadgetman

Lead poisoning is good for them. Whatever is handy seems to work.

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## veitnamcam

I hate the noisy pricks,wasnt aware of the barb on the wing! they are a predator then?

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## el borracho

there was talk some years back o having them on the game bird list

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## Rushy

Dundee, the only good one is a dead one.  I have them on my property (always in pairs).  They are noisy as but have trouble dodging shot.

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## SIKAHUNTER

They roast up well and taste quite good....cough....or so I hear  :Wink:

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## el borracho

have to send you mine lol

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## SIKAHUNTER

> Nasty wee birds can cut a small native bird from the sky with the barb on the wing.


Only thing I've seen them take on are harrier hawks & magpies.  As a useless piece of info: Plovers are native to NZ (they weren't liberated), just not endemic.

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## 40bung

Always though they caught the wind here from Aussie?
And that's why they used to be protected but not native
See, I learn something new every day

Using TT2 with my MT15i

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## el borracho

THEY DID 

Spur-winged Plover
Vanellus V. miles

The Spur-winged Plover that is found here in New Zealand is a self-introduced bird that was originally a native to Australia only, where it is called the masked lapwing. In fact this name is actually more accurate because it is not a true plover. Further confusion occurs when discovering that the northern hemisphere spur-winged plover, which breeds in the Mediterranean, is not related to this species either, and is also a lapwing rather than a true plover.

There are many different species of lapwing all around the world, but only 1 breeds in Australasia of which there are 2 sub-species. The northern sub-species V. miles miles breed in northern Australia and now New Guinea. The smaller sub-species V. miles novaehollandiae, which was originally confined to south-eastern Australia, extended its range to include Tasmania and then New Zealand as a self-introduced species.

Although vagrants of this sub-species were seen much earlier on, it wasn’t until the 1930’s that a pair were recorded as breeding here, at Invercargill airport. Initially, they stayed within coastal Southland, but by the 1950’s they had spread to inland areas, then central Otago. By the late 1960’s they had spread to the rest of the South Island and Stewart Island, and in the 1970’s were first recorded as breeding in the North Island.

This species is now considered to be quite abundant in the South Island and in some areas of the North Island, where it continues to become more common. They are classified as a protected self-introduced native.

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## Rushy

> THEY DID 
> 
> Spur-winged Plover
> Vanellus V. miles
> 
> The Spur-winged Plover that is found here in New Zealand is a self-introduced bird that was originally a native to Australia only, where it is called the masked lapwing. In fact this name is actually more accurate because it is not a true plover. Further confusion occurs when discovering that the northern hemisphere spur-winged plover, which breeds in the Mediterranean, is not related to this species either, and is also a lapwing rather than a true plover.
> 
> There are many different species of lapwing all around the world, but only 1 breeds in Australasia of which there are 2 sub-species. The northern sub-species V. miles miles breed in northern Australia and now New Guinea. The smaller sub-species V. miles novaehollandiae, which was originally confined to south-eastern Australia, extended its range to include Tasmania and then New Zealand as a self-introduced species.
> 
> ...


OK, so when I said that they had trouble dodging shot, I was generalising.  Not my shot of course (skulks away smiling sheepishly)

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## faregame

not protected anymore - they where - but now on Schedule 5

Spur-winged plover (Vanellus miles)

Schedule 5 lists wildlife that is not protected throughout New Zealand. It currently includes a number of mammals, birds and amphibians, including most farmed species. It is lawful for anyone to hunt, kill, or have in their possession any wildlife listed on this schedule.

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## Rushy

> not protected anymore - they where - but now on Schedule 5
> 
> Spur-winged plover (Vanellus miles)
> 
> Schedule 5 lists wildlife that is not protected throughout New Zealand. It currently includes a number of mammals, birds and amphibians, including most farmed species. It is lawful for anyone to hunt, kill, or have in their possession any wildlife listed on this schedule.


OK now that is cleared up, I have found that it was my shot they have trouble dodging after all!

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## SIKAHUNTER

Wildlife Act 1953 No 31 (as at 09 June 2011), Public Act &ndash; New Zealand Legislation

Schedule 5 list.

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## 40bung

> OK now that is cleared up, I have found that it was my shot they have trouble dodging after all!


 :Grin: 

Using TT2 with my MT15i

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## Rock river arms hunter

One thing they HATE is 40gr v-max's from a 204 and 55gr 223's. oh also funnily enough ive discovered they can dodge shot REALLY well! i shoot 1 or 2 at home and then 2 days later theres another bloody pair of em!!!

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## Rushy

> i shoot 1 or 2 at home and then 2 days later theres another bloody pair of em!!!


Keep shooting.  You are doing us all a favour!

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## Dundee

> not protected anymore - they where - but now on Schedule 5
> 
> Spur-winged plover (Vanellus miles)
> 
> Schedule 5 lists wildlife that is not protected throughout New Zealand. It currently includes a number of mammals, birds and amphibians, including most farmed species. It is lawful for anyone to hunt, kill, or have in their possession any wildlife listed on this schedule.



Well that photo wouldn't be there if they were protected :Have A Nice Day:

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## Munsey

> Wildlife Act 1953 No 31 (as at 09 June 2011), Public Act &ndash; New Zealand LegislationSchedule 5 list.


Did anybody read the other schedules 3 ? It got upland game birds that are aloud to be hunted with reference to the chatthams . Does anybody no what that about ?

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## Dundee

> Did anybody read the other schedules 3 ? It got upland game birds that are aloud to be hunted with reference to the chatthams . Does anybody no what that about ?


I've read the Act
Chattams bit far away for me :Wink:

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## muzza

I always find a Norma .220 Swift 50 grain projectile in excess of 4000fps deals to them just fine. they arent called "puff-birds" for nothing .... ( as the pink haze settles and the last feathers float delicately to earth.... ;-)

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## muzza

Actually the plover is quite an interesting bird in that they are very territorial , and very protective of their nests. They are also one of very few birds that will roll an egg back into their nest if it gets displaced. The chicks are damn near impossible to see unless they move , and are  very hard to run over with a quad bike - although they have no answer for a labrador with a good nose.

They tend to set their own stocking rate on pasture land too - you never see more than a pair to about ten acres. They do tend to drive away most other birds , which is one of the main reasons why people hate them - that and the fact they are loud , and Australian.....

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## scottrods

22 subsonics make them go "PUFF" and since they are always in 2's their mate comes over for a look so give the second one a barrel too.

My son cut his teeth shooting them.

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## Dundee

> Actually the plover is quite an interesting bird in that they are very territorial , and very protective of their nests. They are also one of very few birds that will roll an egg back into their nest if it gets displaced. The chicks are damn near impossible to see unless they move , and are  very hard to run over with a quad bike - although they have no answer for a labrador with a good nose.
> 
> They tend to set their own stocking rate on pasture land too - you never see more than a pair to about ten acres. They do tend to drive away most other birds , which is one of the main reasons why people hate them - that and the fact they are loud , and Australian.....


I rekon I counted 60 last year in a 20 acre paddock,no cover but they were protected then :ORLY: Numbers are down this year,I wonder why :Grin:

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## EeeBees

They self introduced...dreadful dreadful birds...they are funny to shoot, not funny haha but strange....they die really easy, himmmmmm  thought I, then you understand why because the feathers are so soft....????? weird...

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## Dundee

> I hate the noisy pricks,wasnt aware of the barb on the wing! they are a predator then?


Bagged another,check the evil barb out.Bloody sharp

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## Rushy

Evil looking thing alright

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## kimjon

''Kill em all'' - hate those dirty squawker birds!!!!

This is what happens when one fly's in between my longrange target when practicing with my 7mmWSM, can't remember the exact range but it was around 380(ish)yards from memory. Got two from two...so called it a day and went home happy in the knowledge that two of those incessant squawking birds were no longer.

kj

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## Dundee

> ''Kill em all'' - hate those dirty squawker birds!!!!
> 
> This is what happens when one fly's in between my longrange target when practicing with my 7mmWSM, can't remember the exact range but it was around 380(ish)yards from memory. Got two from two...so called it a day and went home happy in the knowledge that two of those incessant squawking birds were no longer.
> 
> kj



Bloody photobuckets having issues tonight!

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## TeRei

We converse with them at every opportunity via our Apple IPhone Quad 17HMR 4S.

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## Rushy

> ''Kill em all'' - hate those dirty squawker birds!!!!
> 
> This is what happens when one fly's in between my longrange target when practicing with my 7mmWSM, can't remember the exact range but it was around 380(ish)yards from memory. Got two from two...so called it a day and went home happy in the knowledge that two of those incessant squawking birds were no longer.
> 
> kj


Well done. Long may you continue.

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## ishoot10s

I've got three pair in three diferent horse paddocks. I've blitzed a dozen or so with the 223 in the past couple of years, but others take their place. They're quite smart, they will pretend to have a bung wing and walk away from the nest to try and decoy you away from the eggs or chicks.

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## veitnamcam

> ''Kill em all'' - hate those dirty squawker birds!!!!
> 
> This is what happens when one fly's in between my longrange target when practicing with my 7mmWSM, can't remember the exact range but it was around 380(ish)yards from memory. Got two from two...so called it a day and went home happy in the knowledge that two of those incessant squawking birds were no longer.
> 
> kj


Are you sure its dead? thought I saw it move :Grin:

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## Dundee

Heres a few pics. I was gonna try too smoke the plovers


Zoom in then take the shot


Bang I missed the shot but the plovers turned into parries :Grin:

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## TeRei

Nail one and its mate flies off a distance and you plug that. The 17 HMR is very good on them.

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## Toby

When I get home from duckshooting and the land next to the house.

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## one-gun

awesome something else to shoot other than magpies, rabbits, hares and possums. I have only ever shot one as i thought they were ............ 'you know' ...
 I left it in the paddock and a hawk had it for lunch.. thus ensuring it wasn't a total waste and no evidence... :Have A Nice Day:

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## Tahr

> Evil looking thing alright


 :Have A Nice Day:  I wonder what we look like to them?

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## Happy

Oops the evidence just disappeared as well

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## Dundee

Skills Happy we had ya covered :Thumbsup: Quote from up north   "you no what i mean" :Thumbsup:

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