Northern lapwing

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Northern lapwing
Northern-Lapwing-Vanellus-vanellus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Genus: Vanellus
Species:
V. vanellus
Binomial name
Vanellus vanellus
VanellusVanellusIUCN.png
Northern lapwing distribution. Light green: summer visitor. Dark green: resident. Blue: winter visitor.
Synonyms [2]
  • Tringa vanellus Linnaeus, 1758
  • Vanellus cristatus Meyer [3]
  • Vanellus vulgaris Bechstein [3]

The northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), also known as the peewit or pewit, tuit or tewit, green plover, or (in Ireland and Great Britain) pyewipe or just lapwing, is a bird in the lapwing subfamily. It is common through temperate Eurosiberia.

Contents

Taxonomy

The northern lapwing was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa vanellus. [4] The species is now placed with the other lapwings in the genus Vanellus that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. [5] [6] The scientific name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for the northern lapwing and derives from vannus, a winnowing fan. [7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [6]

The name lapwing has been variously attributed to the "lapping" sound its wings make in flight, from the irregular progress in flight due to its large wings (the Oxford English Dictionary derives this from an Old English word meaning "to totter"), [8] or from its habit of drawing potential predators away from its nest by trailing a wing as if broken. The names peewit, pewit, tuit or tew-it are onomatopoeic and refer to the bird's characteristic call. [9]

Description

Display calls, Surrey, England

The northern lapwing is a 28–33 cm (11–13 in) long bird with a 67–87 cm (26–34 in) wingspan and a body mass of 128–330 g (4.5–11.6 oz). [10] It has rounded wings and a crest. It is also the shortest-legged of the lapwings. It is mainly black and white, but the back is tinted green. The male has a long crest and a black crown, throat and breast contrasting with an otherwise white face. Females and young birds have shorter crests, and have less strongly marked heads, but plumages are otherwise quite similar.

This is a vocal bird in the breeding season, with constant calling as the crazed tumbling display flight is performed by the male. The typical contact call is a loud, shrill "pee-wit" from which they get their other name of peewit. [8] Displaying males usually make a wheezy "pee-wit, wit wit, eeze wit" during their display flight; these birds also make squeaking or mewing sounds.

Behaviour

It is highly migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering further south as far as North Africa, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of China. It migrates mainly by day, often in large flocks. Lowland breeders in westernmost areas of Europe are resident. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America, especially after storms, as in the Canadian sightings after storms in December 1927 and in January 1966. [11]

A northern lapwing mobbing a Western marsh harrier near its nest Vanellus vanellus mobbing Circus aeruginosus.jpg
A northern lapwing mobbing a Western marsh harrier near its nest

It is a wader that breeds on cultivated land and other short vegetation habitats. 3–4 eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, up to and including horses and cattle.

In winter, it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly arable land and mud-flats.

It feeds primarily on insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in mixed flocks with golden plovers and black-headed gulls, the latter often robbing the two plovers, but providing a degree of protection against predators.

Like the golden plovers, this species prefers to feed at night when there is moonlight.

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

Population decline

National surveys of England and Wales have shown a population decline between 1987 and 1998, and since 2009 the northern lapwing has had red list conservation status in the United Kingdom. [12] The numbers of this species have been adversely affected by intensive agricultural techniques. In the lowlands this includes the loss of rough grassland, conversion to arable or improved grassland, loss of mixed farms, and switch from spring- to autumn-sown crops. In the uplands, the losses may have been due to increases in grazing density. Natural England gives grant aid to help restore lapwing habitat within its Environmental Stewardship Scheme. The organisation suggests an option within this scheme called 'Fallow plots for ground-nesting birds'. Uncropped plots at least 2 ha (4.9 acres) in size provide nesting habitat and are located in suitable arable fields, which provide additional foraging habitat. Locating the plots within 2 km (1.2 mi) of extensively grazed grassland will provide additional foraging habitat. The plots are cultivated in the spring to produce a rough fallow, which is retained without the input of fertiliser or pesticides. [13] In addition to agricultural intensification and land-use change, predation of nests and chicks contributes to wader declines, including of lapwing. By radio-tagging lapwing chicks, and using automatic radio tracking systems, the timing of chick predation can be revealed, which provides additional insights into the importance of different predators. Lapwing chicks are predated both in the day and at night, with mammalian predators having the greatest impact. [14]

In Armenia, the population decline and loss of breeding habitats was also documented; the threats are thought to be intensification of land use and hunting, but further investigations for threat clarification are required. [15] In the Middle East, the northern lapwing is threatened by overhunting as it is shot in large quantities along its winter migration routes. Several photos surfacing from the region show many Northern lapwings, alongside other migratory birds including the threatened European turtle dove and European golden-plover, killed for sport in unsustainable and unnecessary numbers. [16]

Cultural significance

Lapwing Incubating Its Eggs--A photograph for which in 1895 R. B. Lodge received from the Royal Photographic Society the first medal ever presented for nature photography. Eric Hosking and Harold Lowes stated their -- incorrect -- belief that this was the first photograph of a wild bird. However, Ottomar Anschutz had photographed wild white storks (Ciconia ciconia) in 1884. Lapwing incubating its eggs - 1895 - Reginald Badham Lodge.jpg
Lapwing Incubating Its Eggs—A photograph for which in 1895 R. B. Lodge received from the Royal Photographic Society the first medal ever presented for nature photography. Eric Hosking and Harold Lowes stated their — incorrect — belief that this was the first photograph of a wild bird. However, Ottomar Anschütz had photographed wild white storks (Ciconia ciconia) in 1884.

Harvesting eggs

"Plover's eggs" were an expensive delicacy in Victorian Europe, mentioned in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited , about aristocratic British society in 1920–40. In the Netherlands, there is a cultural-historical competition to find the first peewit egg of the year (het eerste kievietsei). It is especially popular in the province Friesland, but there are also regional competitions. Gathering peewit eggs is prohibited by the European Union, but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural-historical reasons. The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a court, which determined that the Frisian executive councillors had not properly followed procedure. [19] [20] As of 2006 looking for peewit eggs is permitted between 1 March and 9 April, though harvesting the eggs is now forbidden. In 2008 the first egg was found on 3 March, in Eemnes, Utrecht, [21] and the first egg of 2009 was found on 8 March in Krabbendijke. [22] Over the last century, the first peewit egg has been found earlier and earlier in the year. This is ascribed to both increased use of fertiliser and climate change, causing the growth of grass needed for egg laying to occur earlier. [23]

In Ireland

King Philip II with a feather in his cap. Portret van Filips II te paard, RP-P-1932-154.jpg
King Philip II with a feather in his cap.

The northern lapwing was declared the Republic of Ireland's national bird by a committee of the Irish Wildlife Conservancy in 1990. [24] [25] [26] In the Irish language it is called pilibín, "little Philip", supposedly a reference to Philip II of Spain (King of Ireland 1554–58), who often wore a feather in his cap. [27]

Mythology

The bird referred to in English translations of Ovid's Metamorphoses , book 6, as lapwing [28] is probably the northern lapwing. Tereus is turned into an epops (6.674); Ovid presumably had the hoopoe in mind, whose crest indicates his royal status and whose long, sharp beak is a symbol of his violent nature.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charadriidae</span> Family of birds

The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The family contains 69 species that are divided into 10 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lapwing</span> Subfamily of birds

Lapwings are any of various ground-nesting birds akin to plovers and dotterels. They range from 10 to 16 inches in length, and are noted for their slow, irregular wingbeats in flight and a shrill, wailing cry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian dotterel</span> Species of bird

The Eurasian dotterel, also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It is the only species placed in the genus Eudromias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-tailed lapwing</span> Species of bird

The white-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover is a wader in the lapwing genus. The genus name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for a lapwing and derives from vannus a winnowing fan. The specific leucurus is from Ancient Greek leukouros, "white-tailed".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sociable lapwing</span> Species of bird

The sociable lapwing, referred to as the sociable plover in the UK, is a wader in the plover family. It is a fully migratory bird, breeding in Kazakhstan and wintering in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, and Sudan. Historical literature referred to this bird as the Black-bellied lapwing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-crowned lapwing</span> Species of bird

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spur-winged lapwing</span> Species of bird

The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-wattled lapwing</span> Species of bird

The red-wattled lapwing is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements and the sounds have been variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to the colloquial name of did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far from water, they sometimes form large aggregations in the non-breeding season (winter). They nest in a ground scrape laying three to four camouflaged eggs. Adults near the nest fly around, diving at potential predators while calling noisily. The cryptically patterned chicks hatch and immediately follow their parents to feed, hiding by lying low on the ground or in the grass when threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masked lapwing</span> Species of bird in the family Charadriidae

The masked lapwing is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms, and has several distinctive calls. It is common in Australian fields and open land, and is known for its defensive swooping behaviour during the nesting season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-wattled lapwing</span> Species of bird

The yellow-wattled lapwing is a lapwing that is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent. It is found mainly on the dry plains of peninsular India and has a sharp call and is capable of fast flight. Although they do not migrate, they are known to make seasonal movements in response to rains. They are dull grey brown with a black cap, yellow legs and a triangular wattle at the base of the beak. Like other lapwings and plovers, they are ground birds and their nest is a mere collection of tiny pebbles within which their well camouflaged eggs are laid. The chicks are nidifugous, leaving the nest shortly after hatching and following their parents to forage for food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African wattled lapwing</span> Species of bird

The African wattled lapwing, also known as the Senegal wattled plover or simply wattled lapwing, is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder in most of sub-Saharan Africa outside the rainforests, although it has seasonal movements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-headed lapwing</span> Species of bird

The black-headed lapwing or black-headed plover is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder across sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal to Ethiopia, although it has seasonal movements. It lays two or three eggs on a ground scrape.

<i>Vanellus</i> Genus of birds

Vanellus is the genus of waders which provisionally contains all lapwings except red-kneed dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus. The name "vanellus" is Latin for "little fan", vanellus being the diminutive of vannus. The name is in reference to the sound lapwings' wings make in flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern lapwing</span> Species of bird from South America

The southern lapwing, commonly called quero-quero in Brazil, or tero in Argentina and Uruguay, tero-tero in Paraguay, and queltehue in Chile is a wader in the order Charadriiformes. It is a common and widespread resident throughout South America, except in densely forested regions, the higher parts of the Andes, and the arid coast of a large part of western South America. This bird is particularly common in the basin of the Río de la Plata. It has also been spreading through Central America in recent years. It reached Trinidad in 1961, Tobago in 1974, and has rapidly increased on both islands, sporadically making its way North to Barbados where one pair mated, nested, and produced chicks in 2007. There have been sightings reported in North America with a verified sighting of a bird in Texas posted on Birda on the 17th April 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banded lapwing</span> Species of bird

The banded lapwing is a small to medium-sized shorebird, found in small parties or large flocks on bare ground in open grasslands, agricultural land and open savannah. It is native to Australia and in the past considered as a game bird for hunting. Population estimate is 25 000 - 1 000 000. Other names include banded, black-breasted, brown flock and plain plover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-winged lapwing</span> Species of bird

The black-winged lapwing or greater black-winged lapwing is an east African species that is found from the Ethiopian highlands in the north to central Kenya, and again at middle to coastal elevations in eastern South Africa. It is a habitat specialist of short grass in well-watered temperate grasslands. They may move about locally to find ideal situations, often at night. In their tightly grouped flying flocks they resemble plovers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blacksmith lapwing</span> Species of bird

The blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover is a lapwing species that occurs commonly from Kenya through central Tanzania to southern and southwestern Africa. The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentish plover</span> Species of bird

The Kentish plover is a small wader of the family Charadriidae that breeds on the shores of saline lakes, lagoons, and coasts, populating sand dunes, marshes, semi-arid desert, and tundra. Both male and female birds have pale plumages with a white underside, grey/brown back, dark legs and a dark bill; however, additionally the male birds also exhibit very dark incomplete breast bands, and dark markings either side of their head, therefore the Kentish plover is regarded as sexually dimorphic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pied plover</span> Species of bird

The pied plover, also known as the pied lapwing, is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is a bird of least concern according to the IUCN and can be found in northern South America. The species name cayanus refers to Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, where the pied plover can be found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-toed lapwing</span> Species of bird

The long-toed lapwing , also known as the long-toed plover, is a species of wading bird in the lapwing subfamily, within the family Charadriidae. It is mainly sedentary and found across central and eastern Africa, from Chad and South Sudan in the north to Mozambique in the southeast of its range. It is one of 13 species of ground-nesting lapwings found in Africa.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Vanellus vanellus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22693949A111044786. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22693949A111044786.en . Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  2. ↑ "Vanellus vanellus". Global Biodiversity Information Facility . Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Vanellus vanellus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Northern Lapwing". Species Inventory. The Natural History Museum. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 148.
  5. ↑ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés (in French and Latin). Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 48, Vol. 5, p. 94.
  6. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Sandpipers, snipes, coursers". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 397. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  8. 1 2 "Lapwing" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  9. ↑ "Peewit". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus". oiseaux-birds.com. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. ↑ Godfrey, W. Earl (1986). The Birds of Canada (Revised ed.). National Museum of Natural Sciences. p. 179. ISBN   978-0-660-10758-5.
  12. ↑ "Lapwing Vanellus vanellus". Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside. British Trust for Ornithology. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  13. ↑ "Lapwings thrive on fallow plots". BTO News (269): 17. March–April 2007.
  14. ↑ Mason, L. R.; Smart, J.; Drewitt, A. L. (2018). "Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators". Ibis. 160 (1): 71–88. doi:10.1111/ibi.12523.
  15. ↑ "Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus in Armenia". Armenian Bird Census, TSE NGO.
  16. ↑ "WorldWaders". 3 May 2013.
  17. ↑ Eric Hosking; Harold Lowes (1947), Masterpieces of Bird Photography, William Collins, Sons, p. 9, ASIN   B000O8CPQK, Wikidata   Q108533626
  18. ↑ Cox, Rosamund Kidman, ed. (2014). Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Firefly Books.
  19. ↑ Walinga, Ruurd (17 March 2005). "Dertig jaar juridische strijd om kievitseieren" [Thirty year legal battle for plover's eggs] (in Dutch). Friesch Dagblad. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  20. ↑ Stichting De Faunabescherming and Nederlandse Vereniging tot bescherming van Vogels vs. het college van gedeputeerde staten van Fryslân,[ECLI:NL:RBLEE:2005:AT0660 03/518 BESLU & 03/547 BESLU](Rechtbank Leeuwarden16 March 2005).
  21. ↑ "Eerste kievitsei van 2008 gevonden" [First plover egg of 2008 found] (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 10 March 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  22. ↑ "Dutch spring heralded by lapwing egg". Radio Netherlands / Equi Parvi. 8 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
  23. ↑ "Vinddatum eerste kievitsei in Friesland" [Dates of Discovery of the First Plover's Eggs in Friesland] (in Dutch). Compendium voor de Leefomgeving. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  24. ↑ Reilly, Jerome (23 October 2016). "Lapwing's tricolour feathers fit the bill". Irish Independent . Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  25. ↑ "National Bird of Ireland – Northern Lapwing – Light Future Art".
  26. ↑ Egan, James (26 August 2018). 1000 Facts About Ireland. Lulu.com. ISBN   9780244110734 – via Google Books.
  27. ↑ Fitzgerald, Ann (25 March 2017). "Opinion: Connecting with nature a sure-fire way to bolster your wellbeing". Farming Independent. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  28. ↑ Garth, Sir Samuel; Dryden, John; et al. "'Metamorphoses' by Ovid".
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