Higher classification Vanellus | Scientific name Vanellus spinosus Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Vanellus, Lapwing, Charadriidae, Masked lapwing | ||
The spur winged lapwing
The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (Vanellus spinosus) is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae.
Contents
- The spur winged lapwing
- Distribution
- Description
- Ecology and behaviour
- Other species sometimes given the same name
- Supposed cleaning symbiosis
- References
It is one of several species of wader supposed to be the "trochilus" bird said by Herodotus to have been involved in an unattested cleaning symbiosis with the Nile crocodile.
Distribution
The spur-winged lapwing breeds around the eastern Mediterranean, and in a wide band from sub-Saharan west Africa to Arabia. The Greek and Turkish breeders are migratory, but other populations are resident. The species is declining in its northern range, but is abundant in much of tropical Africa, being seen at almost any wetland habitat in its range. The spur-winged lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Description
These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are medium-large waders with black crown, chest, foreneck stripe and tail. The face, the rest of the neck and belly are white and the wings and back are light brown. The bill and legs are black. Its striking appearance is supplemented by its noisy nature, with a loud did-he-do-it call. The bird's common name refers to a small claw or spur hidden in each of its wings.
Ecology and behaviour
This species has a preference for marshes and similar freshwater wetland habitats. The food of the spur-winged lapwing is insects and other invertebrates, which are picked from the ground.
It lays two blotchy yellowish eggs on a ground scrape. The spur-winged lapwing is known to sometimes use the wing-claws in an attack on animals and, rarely, people, who get too close to the birds' exposed offspring.
Other species sometimes given the same name
The "spur-winged plover" of southern Australasia is a different species, Vanellus miles; its common name has been changed to masked lapwing.
A similar-looking species, Vanellus duvaucelii, from Southeast Asia was also called "spur-winged lapwing" while V. spinosus was referred to as a "plover". Its common name has been changed to river lapwing.
Supposed cleaning symbiosis
The "spur-winged plover" was identified by Henry Scherren as the "trochilus" bird said by the Greek historian Herodotus to be involved in what would now be called a cleaning symbiosis with the Nile crocodile. However, there is no reliable evidence that this or any other species in fact has such a relationship.