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 Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, usually near large rivers.

Description

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.

Behaviour

It is a

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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 The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

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

Status

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

References

''Shorebirds'' by Hayman, Marchant and Prater

External links

* White-crowned plover
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q367317

white-crowned lapwing 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. Description This lapwing is unmi ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxa named by John Gould