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Banded Lapwing (Vanellus tricolor) Alternate name(s): "Banded Plover", "Black-breasted Plover", "Flock Plover", "Plain Plover", "Tri-coloured Plover" Aboriginal name(s): "kilkil" (WA); "kalli-jirr-jirr" Size: 25-29 cm; wing span 61-67 cm Body mass: 165-216 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.28-0.35

Australia: Family Group 9 Family Group 9 Table Comb-crested Jacana Pheasant-tailed Jacana Bush Stone-curlew Beach Stone-curlew Banded Stilt Black-winged Stilt Red-necked Avocet Australian Pratincole Oriental Pratincole South Island Oystercatcher Australian Pied Oystercatcher Sooty Oystercatcher Pacific Golden Plover Grey Plover Little Ringed Plover Kentish Plover Red-capped Plover Double-banded Plover Semipalmated Plover Siberian Sand Plover Greater Sand Plover Oriental Plover Inland Dotterel Black-fronted Dotterel Red-kneed Dotterel Hooded Plover Masked Lapwing Banded Lapwing Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Banded Lapwings are medium-sized waders. They have a black head, except for a white eye stripe and a red base of the bill. The throat is white, but the sides and a wide frontal band connecting to the sides are black. Belly and vent are white again. The upperparts (mantle, upperwing, rump) are greyish-brown, the uppertail is white with a broad black sub-terminal band. The upperwings coverts are greyish-brown, while the flight fleathers are dark-grey. In between these two areas there is a wide white band at the trailing side of the upperwing. The eyes, which are yellow, are surrounded by a yellow eye-ring. The bill is also yellow, while the legs and feet are greyish-pink. Juvenile birds have a brownish crown and no (or very small) red lore wattles yet. Twitcher's tip Compared to Masked Lapwings they are smaller and have a prominent black chest band, making their "jizz" darker.

Taxonomy, classification See Banded Lapwing at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Banded Lapwing is available HERE . Banded Lapwings are endemic to Australia. They populate roughly the southern half of the Australian continent. They are predominantly found throughout NSW, VIC, the North and East coast of Tasmania and the eastern half of SA, along the South coast into WA and up the West coast up to about Exmouth, WA. After substantial rainfall they can disperse into the centre, roughly up to a line connecting Exmouth, WA, and Townsville, QLD. They are normally not found North of the tropic of Capricorn, except for some areas in the southern NT and inland QLD. Banded Lapwings have a strong preference for short open grassland, but also along the edges of inland lakes, including ephemeral lakes. Although this behaviour is unusual, they have also been seen by us on a sandy beach. Where to look? How to find this species? Predicting where Banded Lapwings can be found is difficult because of their dispersive/nomadic lifestyle. However, if there is a patch of open grassland, often with water in the vicinity, even if only temporarily, they may turn up there. This includes habitats such as roadside ditches with puddles.

Sightings Click here for sighting information A single Banded Lapwing was first spotted by us in August 2007, 10 km West of Narrabri, NSW. Three Banded Lapwings, which formed a small group together with two Masked Lapwings, were spotted by us in August 2011 at Goran Lake, an ephemeral lake about 30 km South of Gunnedah, NSW. Since then, Banded Lapwings are spotted by us in inland NSW semi-regularly, usually on or near fallow fields, often around shallow puddles left behind after rainfall. In November/December 2013 a total of 25 Banded Lapwings were found at a dam for aquatic birds of the (at the time closed) Burren Junction Bore Bath near Burren Junction, NSW. In September 2011 a single Banded Lapwing was spotted on a beach at Old Bar, NSW, near the Manning River estuary. J. Greaves reports spotting a pair of Banded Lapwings at the Tropicana Gold Mine, about 350 ENE of Kalgoorlie, WA, in February 2012. C. Charles reports spotting Banded Lapwings near the Diamantina Development Road crossing of the Diamantina River, QLD, in August 2013. R. Muilenburg reports finding Banded Lapwings nesting at the end of the runway of Ravensthorpe airport, in southern WA, in September/October 2015. In September 2017 we found a family of Banded Lapwings in the village of Goodooga, NSW, and in May-July 2018 another family near Burren Junction, NSW. M. Eaton reports finding Banded Lapwings at Gatton, QLD, in July 2018. Banded Lapwings were found by M. Eaton and ourselves in various locations in Outback south-western QLD in June 2019. M. Eaton reports finding many Banded Lapwings in central QLD in August 2022. Others were found along the Eyre Developmental Road, near Bedourie, QLD, in June 2025. In July 2026 the species was found breeding along the Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD. M. Mearns found Banded Lapwings near Pildappa Rock, SA, in August 2018. J. Boettcher, FNQ Nature Tours reports spotting a Banded Lapwing in Mossman, QLD, in August 2020. C. Pears reports spotting Banded Lapwings at Mellenbye Station, ca. 50 km NE of Morawa, WA, in September 2022.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal portrait of an adult Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Frontal view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Near-frontal view of an adult Banded Lapwing looking at the observer
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Near-lateral view of a Banded Lapwing looking towards the observer
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Close-up near-lateral view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Near-lateral view of a Banded Lapwing; this bird was not walking, but pulling up one of its legs to rest
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Near-lateral view of a Banded Lapwing looking sideways
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Close-up lateral view of a Banded Lapwing
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Lateral view of a Banded Lapwing approaching water
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, December 2013]

Lateral view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Lateral view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Lateral view of a preening Banded Lapwing
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Lateral view of a Banded Lapwing scanning the sky for raptors (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing checking for predators
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing on a beach
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Close-up dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing (photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Diamantina River, QLD, August 2013]

Dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

Dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing on a beach
[Near Old Bar, NSW, September 2011]

Dorsal view of more than 20 Banded Lapwings on the bank of a dam
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, November 2013]

Lateral view of Banded Lapwings in flight, displaying their upperwing pattern (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Moree, NSW, December 2012]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of an adult, left, and an immature Banded Lapwing; note the small wattle and not yet completely black cap and frontal band
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, January 2020]

Lateral view of an immature Banded Lapwing
[Burren Junction Bore Bath, NSW, January 2020]

Lateral view of a juvenile Banded Lapwing; this bird and its sibling were still being fed by their parents
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Lateral view of a juvenile Banded Lapwing
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Banded Lapwing
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Banded Lapwing
[Goodooga, NSW, September 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Banded Lapwing chick (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing chick looking back towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Near-dorsal view of a Banded Lapwing chick (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Diamantina Development Road, ca. 100 km W of Windorah, QLD, July 2026]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Jul - Jan

Eggs: 3 - 5

Incubation period: ca. 28 days

Fledging age: N/A

The breeding season listed in the table above relates to the southern part of the continent. In the North, Banded Lapwings breed in autumn. Given the right conditions, they can in principle breed any time of the year. Banded Lapwing chicks are precocial.

Nest building: Female & male

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Scrape

Material: Soil, rocks, some twigs

Height above ground: N/A

Nest of a pair of Banded Lapwings, placed right near the end of the runway of a commercial airport
(photo courtesy of R. Muilenburg)
[Ravensthorpe, WA, September 2015]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 42 x 31 mm

Colour: Olive-grey, with dark grey-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Close-up view of the three Banded Lapwing eggs in the nest shown above (photo courtesy of R. Muilenburg)
[Ravensthorpe, WA, September 2015]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/flock

Additional information

There is a separate page describing the behaviour of a flock of 50 Banded Lapwings around a shallow puddle where they had found a temporary home in a fallow field.

We have seen Banded Lapwings associate with their larger cousins, Masked Lapwings.

People with decades of bird-watching experience report that in the past Banded Lapwings were the most common type of lapwing in inland NSW. These days their numbers have declined drastically, at least in north-west NSW, and the dominant species is now the Masked Lapwing. One possible explanation for this shift could be that Banded Lapwings prefer shorter grass than Masked Lapwings, which has become less abundant with the shift from sheep to cattle farming brought about by the decline in the price of wool.

This Banded Lapwing is surrounded by what it might perceive to be "lush vegetation" (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Near Pildappa Rock, SA, August 2018]

Partly obscured lateral view of a Banded Lapwing taking a bath
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, June 2019]

Two Banded Lapwings having an argument with an Australian Raven that included swooping on the larger bird
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, January 2024]

Food, Diet

Near-frontal view of a Banded Lapwing feeding on short grass growing alongside a dirt road
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, July 2013]

This Banded Lapwing can find seeds in the red dirt of an outback air strip (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[350 km ENE of Kalgoorlie, WA, February 2012]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

bandlap_20200114.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact call (in-flight)	© MD
bandlap_20230831_2.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact call (in-flight, at night)	© MD
bandlap_20230831.mp3	(NW NSW)	Contact calls (in-flight, at night)	© MD
bandlap_20210707.m4a	(NW NSW)	Contact calls (in-flight) + Eastern Barn Owl	© MD
bandlap_20151222_2.m4a	(NW NSW)	Upset (in-flight)	© MD
bandlap_20151222_3.m4a	(NW NSW)	Upset (mob in-flight)	© MD
bandlap_me_20260716.m4a	(SW QLD)	Warning calls to chick (human)	© ME

More Banded Lapwing sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.