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SHOREBIRDS

Most Shorebirds walk along shores probing for food with their thin sensitive bills. Bill length varies considerably so differing species can work the same shore and obtain different food supplies. Shorebirds include sandpipers, godwits, stilts, oystercatchers, plovers, and many more. Shorebirds belong to the Charadriiformes order which also includes the Gulls and Allies.
Note: the term Shorebirds is used in the Americas; elsewhere "waders" is used. We will reserve "waders" for herons and allies.

Some Charadriiformes families:
Burhinidae: thick-knees; Charadriidae: small plovers, lapwings; Glareolidae: courses, pratincoles; Haematopodidae: oystercatchers
Jacanidae: jacanas; Recurvirostridae: avocets, stilts; Scolopacidae: small bill sandpipers, large bill sandpipers.


Large Plovers

Order Charadriiformes    Family Charadriidae

The family Charadriidae contain the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. The term plover is often used to encompass all family members. The small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders do. The largest plovers are the members of genus Vanellus and they are called lapwings.


Genus Vanellus
Lapwings have long legs and usually assume an upright postision.  Most have wattles (red, yellow, or orange) about the face and most have distinctive markings about the face and breast.

Lapwing,_African Wattled also Senegal Wattled Plover Vanellus senegallus Found: Africa
The African Wattled Lapwing has brown back and wings; pale breast and upper belly; black lower belly; black streaked neck; black crown. ; white forehead; yellow face wattles; yellow black tipped bill.
Similar to: Yellow-wattled Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. Yellow-wattled Lapwing has white belly; African Wattled Lapwing has black lower belly.
Image by: 1)  Bill Hingham  2, 3) Arno Meintjes  4) Dick Daniels - Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara, Kenya


Lapwing,_Andean  Vanellus resplendens  Found: South America
The Andean Lapwing has brown back with greenish sheen; dark brown wings; pale gray head and breast; white belly; pink legs.
Similar to: Black-winged Lapwing.  Their ranges do not overlap. The Black-winged Lapwing has a black lower breast; the Andean Lawiing has a pale gray breast.
Image by: 1) S. M. Jayanth  2) Dick Daniels - Andes of Peru  3, 4) Nick Athanas- Peru


Lapwing,_Banded  Vanellus tricolor  Found: Australia
The Banded Lapwing has a brown back and wings; black cap; white eye stripe, throat and bib, belly; black breast band that extends upward to head; yellow eyes, eye-ring; red legs.
Similar to: Masked Lapwing. The Masked Lapwing has yellow wattles on its head; Banded Lapwing does not.
Image by: 1) JJ_Harrison   2) djpmapleferryman  3) Helenabella on Rottnest Island, AU  4) Jim Bendon


Lapwing,_Black-headed  Vanellus tectus  Found: central Africa
The Black-headed Lapwing has a black head with white forehead and lower face; black center strip on underparts.
Image by: 1, 2) Nik_Borrow - Uganda   3) Charles_J_Sharp - Senegal  4) Brendan_Ryan


Lapwing,_Blacksmith also Blacksmith Plover Vanellus armatus   Found: Africa
The Blacksmith Lapwing has black and gray (pied) back, wings; white crown, rear neck collar; black head band, face, throat, breast, bill; red eyes.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - South Africa   3) Celso_Flores - South Africa  4) Cristiano Crolle - 5) Dick - Tanzania  


Lapwing,_Black-winged also Greater Black-winged Plover Vanellus melanopterus   Found: Africa
The Black-winged Lapwingh has brown back, wings; gray head, neck, upper breast; black lower breast; white forehead, belly; dull pink legs.
Similar to: Andean Lapwing.  Their ranges do not overlap. The Black-winged Lapwing has a black lower breast; the Andean Lawiing has a pale gray breast.
Similar to: Senegal Lapwing. Senegal Lapwing has distinct white forehead and blackish legs; Black-winged Lapwing has difuse white forehead and reddish legs.
Image by:  1) Allan_Hopkins  2) Dave Curtis  3) Francesco_Veronesi - Kenya


Lapwing,_Brown-chested  Vanellus superciliosus  Found: Africa
The Brown-chested Lapwing has black crown; yellow wattle on forehead, eye-ring; chesnut breast-band; white belly.
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Uganda  2) Francesco_Veronesi - Uganda 3) Lip_kee - Tanzania
1) Nonbreeding


Lapwing,_Crowned also Crowned Plover Vanellus coronatus   Found: Africa
The Crowned Lapwing has brown upperparts, breast; black cap surrounded by white ring, enclosed by black ring; pink bill tipped with pink;  yellow eyes; red legs.
Similar to: Pied Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - Johannesburg, South Africa  3, 4) Dick - Tanzania   5) Dick - Nairobi National Park, Kenya  6) Derek_Keats - South Africa



Lapwing,_Gray-headed  Vanellus cinereus  Found: Asia
The Gray-headed Lapwing has brown back; gray head, neck; black breast-band, tail; white belly, rump
Image by: 1) Alpsdake - Japan  2) Hyashi Haka   3) Sai_Adikarla  4) nkenji  5) Digicacy - Japan 



Lapwing,_Long-toed also  Long-toed Plover  Vanellus crassirostris  Found: Africa
Similar to: Spur-winged Lapwing.  The Spur-winged Lapwing has a black belly; the Long-toed Lapwing has a white belly.
Image by: 1) Nathan Rupert - San Diego Zoo  2) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo  3) Nik_Borrow - Kenya  4) David_Cook - Uganda  5) Artur  6) Lip Kee - Botswana 



Lapwing,_Masked also Crowned Plover Vanellus miles   Found: Australia
The Masked Lapwing has brown upperparts; white underparts; yellow face wattle extends behind eyes; black crown.
Similar to: Banded Lapwing. The Masked Lapwing has yellow wattles on its head; Banded Lapwing does not.
Similar to: White-headed Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. Masked Lapwing has black crown; White-headed Lapwing has white crown.
Image by: 1, 2, 3) Dick Daniels - Sylvan Heights  4) Sandy Cole - Sylvan Heights    5, 6, 7, 8)Dick Daniels - Australia
1 - 5) Race miles  6 - 9) Race novaehollendae  


Lapwing,_Northern Vanellus vanellus   Found: North America (vagrant), Europe, Asia, Africa
The Northern Lapwing has a green back; black crest, cap, forehead, fore-neck, breast; white belly.
Similar to: Southern Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. The Southern Lapwing has a plainer face.
Image by: 1) Bob Hall  2) Gidzy  3) Niklas Nilsson    4) Silvain de Munck - Netherlands   5) sjahanmi - United Arab Emirates  6) Eddie Van 3000   7) Cristiano Crolle - near Novara, Italy



Lapwing,_Pied  Vanellus cayanus  Found: South America
The Pied Lapwing has brown back; grayish-brown crown; black face, forehead, breast-band, V on mantle, bill; white fore-neck, lower-breast, belly; red legs.
Similar to: Crowned Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap.
Image by: 1) Alastair Rae - Brazil  2) Felix_Uribe  2) Amy McAndrews - Brazil  3) David Schenfeld - Brazil  4) Nick Athanas- Brazil


Lapwing,_Red-wattled   Vanellus indicus  Found: Asia, Africa
The Red-wattled Lapwing has light brown back, wings; black head, neck, breast; white border of black bib; red wattle in front of each eye; black tipped red bill; yellow legs.
Similar to: Spur-winged Lapwing.  The ranges do not overlap. The Spur-winged Lapwing has a black belly; the Red-wattled Lapwing has a white belly.
Image by: 1) Lip Kee - Sri Lanka  2) Ainus  3) JM Garg 


Lapwing,_River  Vanellus duvaucelii  Found: southeast Asia, India
The River Lapwing has brown back; black head, central throat, belly patch, tail; grayish-white neck side, nape; white  belly, rump.
Image by: 1) Soumyadeep Chatterjee - India  2) Tarique_Sani  3) Mike_Prince  4) Tarique Sani - India


Lapwing,_Senegal  Vanellus lugubris  Found: Africa
The Senegal Lapwing has brown back; white forehead, belly; blackish legs, upper-breast.
Similar to: Black-winged Lapwing. Senegal Lapwing has distinct white forehead and blackish legs; Black-winged Lapwing has difuse white forehead and reddish legs.
Image by: 1) Sumeet Moghe - Kenya  2) Bill Highman - Mozambique  3) Greg_Miles


Lapwing,_Sociable  Vanellus gregarius  Found: Asia, Africa
The breeding Sociable Lapwing has gray back, breast; dark belly; white undertail; black crown, eye-stripe; white above and below the eye-stripe. Nonbreeding browner back, breast; white belly.
Image by: 1) Didier Descouens  2) Balaji Venkatesh - India  3) cks3976 - India  4) Rob LLewellyn - Kazakhstan


Lapwing,_Southern  Vanellus Chilensis  Found: Central America (vagrant), South America
The Southern Lapwing has brownish-gray upperparts; gray head, crest; black forehead, throat, breast; white belly; pink eye-ring, legs; pink bill with black tip.
Similar to: Northern Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. The Southern Lapwing has a plainer face.
Image by:  1, 2) Cláudio Timm - Brazil  3) Dario Sanches - Brazil    4) New Jersy Birds  4) dFaulder at Puerto Chacabuco, Chile  5) Dick Daniels - Boquette, Panama   6) Dick - Chile   7) Dick - Sylvan Heights  8) Cristiano Crolle - Argentina
1) Juvenile


Lapwing,_Spot-breasted  Vanellus melanocephalus  Found: Ethiopia
The Spot-breasted Lapwing brownish-gray upperparts; black crown; white eye-line, belly; spotted upper-breast.
Image by: 1) Kris Maes   2, 3) Nik_Borrow


Lapwing,_Spur-winged also Spur-winged Plover  Vanellus spinosus  Found: Europe, Africa
The Spur-winged Lapwing has light brown back and wings; black crown, breast, bill, tail, legs; black fore-neck stripe, rest of neck white.
Similar to: Red-wattled Lapwing. The ranges do not overlap. The Spur-winged Lapwing has a black belly; the Red-wattled Lapwing has a white belly.
Image by:  1) Anders Lanzen   2) Nik_Borrow - Senegal  3) Dick Daniels - Sylvan Heights   4)  Bernard_Dupont


Lapwing,_White-headed also White-crowned Plover Vanellus albiceps  Found: Africa
The White-headed Lapwing has brown back; black wings; white underparts; gray head with white crown and forehead;yellow face wattles.
Similar to: Masked Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. Masked Lapwing has black crown; White-headed Lapwing has white crown.
Image by:  1) Derek_Ramsey  2) Nik_Borrow - Senegal  3, 4) Dick Daniels - San Diego Zoo   5) Dick Daniels - National Aviary



Lapwing,_White-tailed  Vanellus leucurus  Found: Asia, Africa
The White-tailed Lapwing has a brown back, fore-neck; brown, white, and black wings; white belly.
Image by: 1) Charles_J_Sharp  Marcel Holyoak - Israel   2) Kishore Bhargava - India  3) Sergey Yeliseev - Armenia


Lapwing,_Yellow-wattled  Vanellus malabaricus  Found: India
The Yellow-wattled Lapwing has pale brown upperparts, neck, breast; white belly; black crown; yellow face wattles, eye-rings, legs.
Similar to: African Wattled Lapwing. Ranges do not overlap. Yellow-wattled Lapwing has white belly; African Wattled Lapwing has black lower belly.
Image by: 1) Gaurika_Wijeratne - Sri Lanka  2) Werner Witte - Sri Lanka  3) S. M. Jayanth   4) Charles_J_Sharp - India





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