The northern lapwing, aka peewit, pewit, tuit, tewit, green plover, pyewipe, or simply lapwing, is a wading bird found throughout Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. These birds face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of farming, ranching, dams, and water management; human intrusion, that interrupts their breeding; hunting; trapping; invasive species, that can bring about predation and disease, like avian botulism; land pollution; and water pollution. The IUCN lists these water birds as Near Threatened. Their population trend is listed as decreasing.
First the Stats…
Scientific name: Vanellus vanellus
Weight: Up to 11.6 ounces
Length: Up to 13 inches
Wingspan: Up to 34 inches
Lifespan: Up to 20 years
Now on to the Facts!
1.) These birds were first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.
2.) They get the name lapwing due to the “lapping” sound their wings make in flight.
3.) Several sounds are produced by these birds, such as a loud, shrill “pee-wit”, a wheezy “pee-wit, wit wit, eeze wit”, a squeaking sound, and a mewing sound.
4.) Being highly migratory, there are sometimes vagrant populations seen in North America; more specifically in Canada.
5.) Females lay up to 4 eggs that incubate in up to 27 days.
But wait, there’s more on the northern lapwing!
6.) Various insects, earthworms, and red worms are all readily feasted upon.
7.) They are known to beat 1 leg on the ground repeatedly to draw worms to the surface. This is known as worm charming.
Did you know…?
Although their populations are decreasing, they number an estimated 7,000,000 individuals, to date.
8.) These lapwings are both crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) and nocturnal (active at night).
9.) Their eggs were, at 1 time, an expensive delicacy in Victorian Europe.
10.) The bird referred to in English translations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, book 6, as lapwing is most likely the northern lapwing. Tereus is turned into an epops (a distinctive, crested bird known for its “oop-oop-oop” call).
Now a Short Northern Lapwing Video!
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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN
Photo credit: Andreas Trepte
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