20-5-2019 BUMI HILLS, ZIMBABWE - WHITE HEADED LAPWING (Vanellus albiceps)

The white-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-headed plover or white-crowned plover (Vanellus albiceps) is a medium-sized wader. It is resident throughout tropical Africa, usually near large rivers.

This lapwing is unmistakable. Its wings and tail are strikingly patterned in black and white, the back is brown and the underparts white. The head is particularly striking, being mainly grey, but with a white crown and foreneck. The eyering, facial wattles and legs are yellow. Females, males and young birds are similar in plumage.

It is a wader which breeds on exposed sand or shingle near rivers. 2–3 eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, up to and including the hippopotamus.

Food is mainly insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in small flocks when not breeding.

The white-crowned lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

The White-headed Lapwing (or White-crowned Lapwing, Vanellus albiceps) is a distinctive African shorebird known for its grey head with a white crown stripe, bright yellow eye-ring/wattles, brown back, and striking black-and-white wings. These medium-sized birds live near rivers, sandbanks, and wetlands, feeding on insects, often forming groups outside breeding season but nesting solitarily or in loose colonies, using their sharp calls and wing spurs for defense, and are classified as Least Concern globally.

Key Facts:

Appearance: Grey head with a white stripe, yellow facial wattles/eyering, brown upperparts, white underbelly, black wingtips, and white in wings (visible in flight).

Habitat: Prefers large rivers with sandy banks, but also uses pans, floodplains, grasslands, and farms.

Diet: Insects and other invertebrates.

Behavior: Gregarious in flocks outside breeding, territorial during breeding (solitary or loose groups). Uses loud "kriiip" calls and wing spurs (like tiny clubs) for defense.

Nesting: Breeds during the dry season, laying 2-3 eggs. Chicks are precocial (able to walk soon after hatching).

Size: About 28-32 cm (11-12.6 inches) long.