Northern Lapwing

Glossy green back

Scientific name	Vanellus vanellus
English name	Northern Lapwing
Japanese name	田鳧
Classification	Aves
Classification details	Charadriiformes Charadriidae
Full length	32cm
Distribution	Breeds in the Eurasian continent and overwinters in northern Africa and southern Eurasia.

Characteristics

A bird with distinctive wing color and crest. The back of the body is a dark gray background with shiny green and purple. The top of the head and under the eyes are dark brown, and the crests are popping out. The neck and abdomen are white and the legs are red.

How to distinguish between male and female Northern Lapwing

The male and female lapwings look very similar. The point to distinguish is that males have long crests and females have relatively short crests. In addition, the color around the head of the female is slightly lighter.

Calls

The Northern Lapwing's call is a cat-like voice called "mumu" or a cute voice called "cue cue", and it is not sharp.

Ecology

Fly to open areas such as paddy fields and wetlands. Walk on the ground and prey on insects and earthworms. It breeds in Eurasia and northern Africa in the summer. There are few breeding records in Japan.

Habitat

Found on a farmland with a puddle. It was wandering around the ground looking for food. There were 4 birds, but the shade of brown was different depending on the individual, so it was possible to confirm the difference between males and females.