Also known as the Green Plover or Peewit, in imitation of its display calls, its proper name describes its wavering flight. Its black and white appearance and round-winged shape in flight make it distinctive, even without its splendid crest. This familiar farmland bird has suffered significant declines recently and is now an Red List species.
Key ID Features
Flat, dark green back glossed purple and copper.
Steep black forehead extends into a wispy crest, longer in the summer male.
Black upper breast and throat, more mottled in the female, below a short dark bill and white cheeks.
In flight the broad rounded wings are dark above and white with black tips below, and a reddish patch is visible below the white tail.
Overview
Scientific name: Vanellus vanellus
Family: Plovers and lapwings (Charadriidae)
Where to see them:
Lapwings are found on farmland throughout the UK particularly in lowland areas of northern England, the Borders and eastern Scotland. In the breeding season prefer spring sown cereals, root crops, permanent unimproved pasture, meadows and fallow fields. They can also be found on wetlands with short vegetation. In winter they flock on pasture and ploughed fields. The highest known winter concentrations of lapwings are found at the Somerset Levels, Humber and Ribble estuaries, Breydon Water/Berney Marshes, the Wash, and Morecambe Bay.
Seen in UK:
All year round. Leaves upland areas after the breeding season and moves to lowland fields for the winter. Large numbers of N European birds arrive in autumn for the winter.
What they eat
Worms and insects.
Text (c) RSPB, used with permission
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Photographer: Tim Tapley
