From Opus

Vanellus melanopterus

Photo by Tamir
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, October 2004

[edit] Identification

• Grey head, neck, and upper breast with white forehead patch reaching around the eye
• Black breast band
• White belly and flanks
• Greyish-brown upperside

In flight shows:

• Upperside of wing: brown wing coverts and black flight feathers separated by white wingbar
• Underside of wing: white with black flight feathers
• Two-toned tail with inner half white and outer black

Juvenile
Photo by Alan Manson
Midmar Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, October 2007

[edit] Distribution

Disjunctly distributed through Eastern African highlands: Ethiopia to South Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies¹

• V. m. melanopterus - Extreme southern Sudan to Ethiopia; south-western Kenya to central Tanzania
• V. m. minor - Eastern Cape Province to north-eastern Transvaal; winters to southern Mozambique

[edit] Habitat

Short grassland.

[edit] Behaviour

Gregarious; usually in groups of 4-20 birds, often with Crowned Lapwing.

[edit] Diet

Feeds on invertebrates.

[edit] Breeding

The clutch consists of 3 large dark eggs which are incubated for about 28 days; the young fledge after a further month.

Photo by PicMan
Ethiopia, February 1997

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links