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9

Northern Lapwing

(Vanellus vanellus)
Alternate name(s): "Lapwing", "Green Plover", "Peewit", "Pewit", "Tuit", "Tew-it"
German name(s): "Kiebitz"

Size: 28-33 cm; wing span: 67-87 cm
Weight: 130-330 g
Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description

Click here for a physical description

Taxonomy, classification

See Northern Lapwing at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species

Click here for information on habitat and range

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Photos

ADULT

BREEDING

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Northern Lapwing in breeding plumage; note the solid-black chest band (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-lateral view of a male(?) Northern Lapwing in breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2017]

FEMALE

Lateral view of a female(?) Northern Lapwing in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, July 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a female(?) Northern Lapwing in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2018]

Northern Lapwings in a submerged meadow; the bird in the front right is possibly a female (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Sex unknown

Overview of the habitat in which a large flock of Northern Lapwings was found (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Near-dorsal view of a Northern Lapwing in breeding plumage (photo courtesy of H. Dahlem-Senger)
[Between Harlesiel and Neuharlingersiel, Ostfriesland, Germany, June 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Northern Lapwing in flight; note the characteristic black-and-white uppertail, with very narrow white tips; below two European Golden Plovers (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, February 2021]

Northern Lapwings in flight (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

Large flock of Northern Lapwings, indicating that these birds are still in their winter quarters (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

NON-BREEDING

In eclipse the sexes can only be separated by getting a good view of the primary wing feathers.

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Northern Lapwing moulting out of breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2020]

Lateral/ventral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage in flight; the "broad hand", i.e. the prominently visible ends of the primary flight feathers, suggest(s) that this is a male (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2019]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Frontal view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage compared to a feeding female Northern Shoveler
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage; note the rufous wash on the head
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Aguas de Moura, Palmela, Setubal, Portugal, January 2021]

Near-lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, October 2018]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, November 2021]

Northern Lapwings in non-breeding plumage resting together with a Common Redshank (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Northern Lapwings in non-breeding plumage, together with several species of very similar waders: Green Sandpiper, front left, Wood Sandpiper, near the centre, and all others are Common Sandpipers (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Food, Diet

Northern Lapwings feed on insects and other small invertibrates, usually foraging near the edge of, or in, shallow water.

Feeding technique of Northern Lapwings (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, March 2017]

This Northern Lapwing in non-breeding plumage has been digging up dirt (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, January 2020]

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.

lapwing_dw_20170409.m4a (Poland) Pair courting © DW
lapwing_jp_20230130.mp3 (Portugal) ? © JP

More Northern 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.

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