Birds Guide

Lapwings
Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus armatus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Aves   Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae   Subfamily: Vanellinae Bonaparte, 1842
Genera
Erthrogonys Vanellus

Lapwings are medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae of the family Charadriidae, which also includes the plovers and dotterels. A lapwing can be thought of as a larger plover.

The traditional terms plover, lapwing, and dotterel were coined long before modern understandings of the relationships between different groups of birds emerged: in consequence, several of the lapwings (subfamily Vanellinae) are still called "plovers", and the reverse also applies.

While authorities are generally agreed that there about 24 species of lapwing, classifications within the subfamily remain confused. At one extreme, Peters recognised no less than 19 different genera; other workers have gone as far as to group all the lapwings into the single genus, Vanellus. Current opinion appears to be that a more moderate position is appropriate.

These long-legged waders mostly have strongly patterned plumage. Although the most familiar northern hemisphere lapwing, Northern Lapwing, has a wispy crest, only two other species do so. Red or yellow facial wattles are a more typical decoration.

A group of lapwings is called a "deceit".

List of species in taxonomic order

• Red-kneed Dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus
  Northern Lapwing, Vanellus vanellus
  White-headed Plover, Vanellus albiceps
  Southern Lapwing, Vanellus chilensis
  Grey-headed Lapwing, Vanellus cinereus
  Crowned Lapwing, Vanellus coronatus
  Long-toed Lapwing, Vanellus crassirostris
  River Lapwing or Spur-winged Lapwing, Vanellus duvaucelii
  Red-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus indicus
  Masked Lapwing, Vanellus miles
  Spur-winged Lapwing or Spur-winged Plover, Vanellus spinosus
  Banded Lapwing, Vanellus tricolor
  Blacksmith Lapwing, Vanellus armatus
  Black-headed Lapwing, Vanellus tectus
  Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Vanellus malabaricus
  Senegal Lapwing, Vanellus lugubris
  Black-winged Lapwing, Vanellus melanopterus
  African Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus senegallus
  Spot-breasted Lapwing, Vanellus melanocephalus
  Brown-chested Lapwing, Vanellus superciliosus
  Javanese Wattled Lapwing, Vanellus macropterus
  Sociable Lapwing, Vanellus gregarius
  White-tailed Lapwing, Vanellus leucurus
  Pied Lapwing, Vanellus cayanus
  Andean Lapwing, Vanellus resplendens

Only Northern, Sociable, White-tailed Lapwing, Grey-headed and Brown-chested Lapwings are migratory species.

Spur-winged, Blacksmith, River, Southern, Andean and Pied Lapwings are boldly patterned, red-eyed species with a spurred carpal joint.

Many species have wattles which can be small (Black-headed, Spot-breasted, Red-wattled and Banded Lapwings) or large (White-headed Plover, African Wattled, Yellow-wattled, Javanese Wattled, or Masked Lapwings).

External links

• Lapwing videos on the Internet Bird Collection