Alternative names: Lesser Black-winged Plover; Senegal Lapwing; Senegal Plover
- Vanellus lugubris
Identification
Length 23-26 cm, mass 107-117 g.
Brown back, throat and head; black bill, black legs, orange eyes.
Similar Species
Similar to the Black-winged Lapwing, but slightly smaller. In addition, the white forehead patch does not extend to the eye, the eye-ring is black rather than red, and the legs are blackish (dark reddish in Black-winged Lapwing); in flight the secondaries are white (not tipped black) and the underwing is brown and white (rather than all white).
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxonomy
A monotypic species.
Habitat
Savanna grasslands.
Behaviour
The diet includes butterflies, bees, wasps, locusts and ants.
References
- Lepage, D. 2008. Avibase. Search for "Senegal Lapwing" downloaded 24 June 2008.
- Gibbon, G. 2002. Roberts' Multimedia Birds of Southern Africa: Version 3. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. www.sabirding.co.za
