White-tailed Lapwing

Overview

The white-tailed lapwing, also known as the white-tailed plover, is a medium-sized wader in the genus Vanellus leucurus. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List but faces threats from habitat destruction and unintentional poaching in parts of its range.

Identification

• Slim, erect bird with a brown back and foreneck, paler face, and grey breast.
• Distinctive long yellow legs and a pure white tail.
• Wings feature a distinctive pattern of brown, white, and black.
• Breeding season call is a 'peewit', similar to that of the northern lapwing.

Habitat

This species breeds semi-colonially on inland marshes across Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, and southern Russia. While Iraqi and Iranian populations are mainly resident, Russian birds migrate south in winter to the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and north-east Africa.

Diet

It forages mainly in other than very shallow water, picking insects and other small prey from the surface.

Did you know?

It is a very rare vagrant in western Europe, with the first recorded example in Britain found at Packington, Warwickshire, on 12 July 1975.