Vanellus albiceps
White-crowned Lapwings are usually seen on the sandy or muddy banks and islands of large rivers and other natural waterbodies, searching for invertebrates and occasionally small frogs and fish to feed on. Adults weigh approximately 190g and measure around 30cm in length.
Outside of the breeding season White-crowned Lapwings congregate in groups of up to 30, though more usually numbering 6-12, but during the dry-season breeding period they are to be found in highly territorial pairs. The nest is a scrape or the footprint of a large mammal in the sand, vigorously defended against any bird or animal that ventures too close. Clutches consist of 2 or 3 eggs.
In South Africa the White-crowned Lapwing occurs only in the Lowveld and Limpopo Valley and is considered rare and threatened by diminishing river flows – there’s only about 90 pairs in total along the Limpopo, Luvuvhu, Olifants and Sabie Rivers in the Kruger National Park. North of our borders they are found patchily in parts of southern and eastern Africa, with the majority of the population occurring in central and west Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUCN.
de Wets Wild 
Beautiful photos. I love nature and have a pair of binoculars at the window, just in case!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Susie! That sounds very familiar – my camera’s also somewhere close at hand most of the time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such remarkable birds and I enjoyed seeing them through your photos. We will look out for them on our visit to Kruger next year. Sad to learn about another species adversely affected by our fraught river systems.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Carol!
We found the low-level bridge across the Olifants at Balule, and the whole of the S63-road along the Luvuvhu River, to be excellent spots to see White-crowned Lapwings.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the info – will keep a note of that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am pleased you have had such good sightings of this lovely bird.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Anne – we’ve been really lucky with our sightings of them of late.
LikeLike
What a striking bird! As always, I love learning new things here, and even more happy to see how the citizens take care of their wildlife 🙂 Best wishes to you and your family.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We’re so glad to know that you find something of interest here, Takami – thank you and best wishes to you all too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
i’ve not seen this bird before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not one that gets much airtime on the documentaries I’m afraid Gavin – sadly they focus on the more “charismatic” species and basically ignore the rest.
LikeLike
That’s a good looking bird. Is that a yellow wattle? Good shots! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks H.J! Indeed, those oversized wattles are one of their most striking characteristics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a striking bird! Good pictures of them. I bet they would look good in black and white too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Siobhan! Pity those yellow wattles would loose their lustre in black-and-white though.
LikeLike
They are a unique feature!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ir looks like quite a delicate little bird, although its breeding strategy seems rather fraught. I wonder about some of these IUCN listings. If they are based on in-country surveys commissioned by the home government, then that could really skew the results. For example, our environment departments and parks and wildlife services are massively under-funded and survey data is often not current.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankfully South Africa has a very passionate and dedicated citizen scientist community, Tracy – the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP2) being an excellent case in point, providing fantastic insights into the distribution and population dynamics of our birdlife that no government or agency would be able to collect otherwise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kudos to all those wonderful citizen scientists out there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen to that!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So jammer dat die voëls so verminder weens skaarste van veral nattigheid/water. Paar mooi fotos wat jy geneem het.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dit is beslis so, Ineke, en in die meerderheid van gevalle is dit mense se skuld dat die water opdroog.
LikeLike
Beslis! hier is bv ook die besoedeling van water ook die oorbeweiding van velde langs riviere. Nou wil hul dit omkeer en weiding weg te hou maar probleem bly daar is te veel beeste op te klein stukkies veld. Ai die mens is ook maar ïnhalig”. Hoe kan dit ook anders, daar moet voorsien word in vleis en melk vir mense en natuur moet maar terugstaan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ons sal moet afskaal voor die hele sisteem in duie stort…
LikeLike
Eintlik is dit bietjie laat. Hier kap hul bome af eb plante weer aan. Dis egter seker 20 jaar se boomgroei wat verwyder word. Ek raak sommer benoud as ek net daaraan dink. Die veld word opgewei en bome word afgekap!
LikeLike