View source for Northern lapwing

{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Speciesbox
  |status            = NT
  |status_system     = IUCN3.1
  |status_ref        = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2017 |title=''Vanellus vanellus'' |amends=2016 |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22693949A111044786 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22693949A111044786.en |access-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>
  |image             = Northern-Lapwing-Vanellus-vanellus.jpg
  |image_caption     = in [[Tönning]], Germany
  |image2            = Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) (W1CDR0001471 BD4).ogg
  |image2_caption    = Display calls, [[Surrey]], England
  |taxon             = Vanellus vanellus
  |authority         = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
  |range_map         = VanellusVanellusIUCN.png
  |range_map_caption = Northern lapwing distribution. Light green: summer visitor. Dark green: resident. Blue: winter visitor.
  |synonyms_ref      = <ref>{{GBIF|id=2480242|taxon=''Vanellus vanellus''|access-date=2022-05-11}}</ref>
  |synonyms          = {{Species list
| Tringa vanellus | Linnaeus, 1758
| Vanellus cristatus | Meyer<ref name=syn1>{{cite web |title=''Vanellus vanellus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Northern Lapwing |work=Species Inventory |publisher=The Natural History Museum |url=https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/uk-species/species/vanellus_vanellus.html |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref>
| Vanellus vulgaris | Bechstein<ref name=syn1/>}}
}}

The '''northern lapwing''' ('''''Vanellus vanellus'''''), also known as the '''peewit''' or '''pewit''', '''tuit''' or '''tewit''', '''green plover''', or (in [[Ireland]] and Great Britain) '''pyewipe''' or just '''lapwing''', is a [[bird]] in the [[lapwing]] subfamily. It is common through temperate [[Palearctic|Eurosiberia]].

==Taxonomy==
The northern lapwing was [[Species description|formally described]] by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758 in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]'' under the [[binomial nomenclature|binomial name]] ''Tringa vanellus''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |year=1758 |title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |language=Latin |edition=10th |publisher=Laurentii Salvii |location=Holmiae (Stockholm) |volume=1 |page=148 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727055}}</ref> The species is now placed with the other lapwings in the [[genus]] ''[[Vanellus]]'' that was introduced by the French zoologist [[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]] in 1760.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brisson |first=Mathurin Jacques |author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson |year=1760 |title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés |language=fr, la |at=[https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36010447 Vol. 1, p. 48], [https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36294364 Vol. 5, p. 94] |place=Paris |publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche}}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web |editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Frank |editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=Pamela |editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=July 2021 |title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers |work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ |access-date=22 November 2021}}</ref> The scientific name ''Vanellus'' is [[Medieval Latin]] for the northern lapwing and derives from ''vannus'', a [[Winnowing#In Greek culture|winnowing fan]].<ref name=job>{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |page=397 |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling}}</ref> The species is [[monotypic]]: no [[subspecies]] are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>

The name ''lapwing'' has been variously attributed to the "lapping" sound its wings make in flight, from the irregular progress in flight due to its large wings (the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] derives this from an Old English word meaning "to totter"),<ref name=OED>{{cite OED |Lapwing}}</ref> or from its habit of drawing potential predators away from its nest by trailing a wing as if broken. The names ''peewit'', ''pewit'', ''tuit'' or ''tew-it'' are [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]] and refer to the bird's characteristic call.<ref>{{cite dictionary |title=Peewit |dictionary=Dictionary.com |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/peewit |access-date=2 February 2018}}</ref>

==Description==
The northern lapwing is a {{convert|28|–|33|cm|in|abbr=on}} long bird with a {{convert|67|–|87|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan and a body mass of {{convert|128|-|330|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name=oiseaux-birds/> It has rounded wings and a crest. It is also the shortest-legged of the lapwings. It is mainly black and white, but the back is tinted green. The male has a long [[Crest (feathers)|crest]] and a black crown, throat and breast contrasting with an otherwise white face. Females and young birds have shorter crests, and have less strongly marked heads, but plumages are otherwise quite similar.

This is a vocal bird in the breeding season, with constant calling as the crazed tumbling display flight is performed by the male. The typical contact call is a loud, shrill "pee-wit" from which they get their other name of '''peewit'''.<ref name=OED/> Displaying males usually make a wheezy "pee-wit, wit wit, eeze wit" during their display flight; these birds also make squeaking or mewing sounds.

==Behaviour==
It is highly [[bird migration|migratory]] over most of its extensive range, wintering further south as far as North Africa, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of China. It migrates mainly by day, often in large flocks. Lowland breeders in westernmost areas of Europe are resident. It occasionally is a vagrant to North America, especially after storms, as in the Canadian sightings after storms in December 1927 and in January 1966.<ref name=Godfrey/>

[[File: Vanellus vanellus mobbing Circus aeruginosus.jpg|thumb|left|A northern lapwing mobbing a [[Western marsh harrier]] near its nest]]

It is a [[wader]] that breeds on cultivated land and other short vegetation habitats. 3–4 eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, up to and including [[horse]]s and [[cattle]].

In winter, it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly [[arable land]] and [[mudflat|mud-flats]].

It feeds primarily on insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in mixed flocks with [[European golden plover|golden plovers]] and [[black-headed gull]]s, the latter often robbing the two plovers, but providing a degree of protection against predators. Additionally, they use one leg to beat the ground until worms surface, known as a variation of [[worm charming]].<ref>{{Cite web  | title = Fiddling For Worms  | publisher = ESPN Fishing    | year = 2007  | url = https://www.espn.com/outdoors/fishing/columns/story?columnist=sutton_keith&page=g_col_Sutton_fiddling_for_worms  | access-date = 15 July 2025}}</ref>

Like the golden plovers, this species prefers to feed at night when there is moonlight.

The northern lapwing is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' ([[AEWA]]) applies.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Tofsvipa (Vanellus vanellus) - 2017 -Ystad.jpg|In some years the species is more sociable and gathers in large flocks after breeding. In the picture, part of a large flock estimated at around 3,000 individuals on September 24, 2017 in [[Ystad]].
File:Birds of Sweden 2016 45.jpg|Flying
File:Alarmerende kievit in bloemrijk grasland-4961654.webm|Alarmed in flowery meadow on [[Texel]], the Netherlands
File:Vanellus vanellus -Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands -chick-8a.jpg|Chick in the Netherlands
File:Vanellus vanellus MHNT.jpg|Egg – [[MHNT]]
File:Tofsvipa - Northern lapwing - (Vanellus vanellus) -Ystad-2023.jpg|A large flock flying by
</gallery>

==Population decline==
National surveys of [[England]] and [[Wales]] have shown a population decline between 1987 and 1998, and since 2009 the northern lapwing has had red list conservation status in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lapwing ''Vanellus vanellus'' |work=Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside |publisher=British Trust for Ornithology |url=https://www.bto.org/birdtrends2010/wcrlapwi.shtml |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref> The numbers of this species have been adversely affected by intensive agricultural techniques. In the [[lowland]]s this includes the loss of rough grassland, conversion to [[Arable land|arable]] or improved grassland, loss of mixed farms, and switch from spring- to autumn-sown crops. In the uplands, the losses may have been due to increases in [[grazing]] density. [[Natural England]] gives grant aid to help restore lapwing habitat within its [[Environmental Stewardship]] Scheme. The organisation suggests an option within this scheme called 'Fallow plots for ground-nesting birds'. Uncropped plots at least {{convert|2|ha|acre|abbr=on}} in size provide nesting habitat and are located in suitable arable fields, which provide additional foraging habitat. Locating the plots within {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}} of extensively grazed grassland will provide additional foraging habitat. The plots are cultivated in the spring to produce a rough fallow, which is retained without the input of fertiliser or pesticides.<ref name=BTO/> In addition to agricultural intensification and land-use change, predation of nests and chicks contributes to wader declines, including of lapwing. By radio-tagging lapwing chicks, and using automatic radio tracking systems, the timing of chick predation can be revealed, which provides additional insights into the importance of different predators. Lapwing chicks are predated both in the day and at night, with mammalian predators having the greatest impact.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mason |first1=L. R. |last2=Smart |first2=J. |last3=Drewitt |first3=A. L. |year=2018 |title=Tracking day and night provides insights into the relative importance of different wader chick predators |journal=Ibis |doi=10.1111/ibi.12523 |volume=160 |issue=1 |pages=71–88}}</ref>

In [[Armenia]], the population decline and loss of breeding habitats was also documented; the threats are thought to be intensification of land use and hunting, but further investigations for threat clarification are required.<ref name=ABCC/> In the [[Middle East]], the northern lapwing is threatened by overhunting as it is shot in large quantities along its winter migration routes. Several photos surfacing from the region show many Northern lapwings, alongside other migratory birds including the threatened [[European turtle dove]] and [[European golden-plover]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://worldwaders.wordpress.com/tag/northern-lapwing/ | title= WorldWaders| date= 3 May 2013}}</ref>

==Cultural significance==
[[File:Lapwing incubating its eggs - 1895 - Reginald Badham Lodge.jpg|thumb|''Lapwing Incubating Its Eggs''—A photograph for which in 1895 [[Reginald Badham Lodge|R. B. Lodge]] received from the [[Royal Photographic Society]] the first medal ever presented for nature photography. [[Eric Hosking]] and Harold Lowes stated their — incorrect — belief that this was the first photograph of a wild bird.<ref>{{cite q|Q108533626|page=9}}</ref> However, [[Ottomar Anschütz]] had photographed wild [[white stork]]s (''Ciconia ciconia'') in 1884.<ref name="Cox">{{cite book|editor1-last=Cox|editor1-first=Rosamund Kidman|title=Wildlife Photographer of the Year|date=2014|publisher=Firefly Books}}</ref> ]]

{{Anchor|Plover's egg}}
===Harvesting eggs===
"[[Plover's eggs]]" were an expensive [[delicacy]] in [[Victorian era|Victorian Europe]], mentioned in [[Evelyn Waugh]]'s ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'', about aristocratic British society in 1920–40. In the [[Netherlands]], there is a cultural-historical competition to find the first peewit egg of the year (''het eerste kievietsei''). It is especially popular in the province [[Friesland]], but there are also regional competitions. Gathering peewit eggs is prohibited by the [[European Union]], but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural-historical reasons. The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a court, which determined that the Frisian [[Gedeputeerde Staten|executive councillors]] had not properly followed procedure.<ref name=Walinga2005/><ref name=court/> As of 2006 looking for peewit eggs is permitted between 1 March and 9 April, though harvesting the eggs is now forbidden. In 2008 the first egg was found on 3 March, in [[Eemnes]], [[Utrecht (province)|Utrecht]],<ref name=NederlandseOmroepStichting/> and the first egg of 2009 was found on 8 March in [[Krabbendijke]].<ref name=RadioNetherlands/> Over the last century, the first peewit egg has been found earlier and earlier in the year. This is ascribed to both increased use of [[fertiliser]] and [[climate change]], causing the growth of grass needed for egg laying to occur earlier.<ref name=Natuurcompendium/>

===In Ireland===
[[File:Portret van Filips II te paard, RP-P-1932-154.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[Philip II of Spain|King Philip II]] with a feather in his cap.]]

The northern lapwing was declared the [[Republic of Ireland]]'s [[national bird]] by a committee of the [[Irish Wildlife Conservancy]] in 1990.<ref>{{cite news |last=Reilly |first=Jerome |date=23 October 2016 |title=Lapwing's tricolour feathers fit the bill |newspaper=[[Irish Independent]] |url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/lapwings-tricolour-feathers-fit-the-bill-35153566.html |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=National Bird of Ireland – Northern Lapwing – Light Future Art |url=https://lightfutureart.com/national-bird-of-ireland-northern-lapwing}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Egan |first=James |title=1000 Facts About Ireland |date=26 August 2018 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-244-11073-4 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQp-DwAAQBAJ&q=lapwing+ireland+%22national+bird%22&pg=PA13}}</ref> In the [[Irish language]] it is called ''pilibín'', "little Philip", supposedly a reference to [[Philip II of Spain]] ([[King of Ireland]] 1554–58), who often wore a feather in his cap.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fitzgerald |first=Ann |date=25 March 2017 |title=Opinion: Connecting with nature a sure-fire way to bolster your wellbeing |newspaper=Farming Independent |url=https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/rural-life/opinion-connecting-with-nature-a-sure-fire-way-to-bolster-your-wellbeing-35548395.html |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref>

===Mythology===
The bird referred to in English translations of [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', book 6, as ''lapwing''<ref name=Garth/> is probably the northern lapwing. Tereus is turned into an ''epops'' (6.674); Ovid presumably had the [[Eurasian hoopoe|hoopoe]] in mind, whose crest indicates his royal status and whose long, sharp beak is a symbol of his violent nature.
{{Clear}}

== References ==
<!-- AnimalBiology59:127. -->
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=BTO>{{cite journal |date=March–April 2007 |title=Lapwings thrive on fallow plots |journal=BTO News |number=269 |page=17}}</ref>

<ref name=court>{{cite court|date=16 March 2005 |litigants=Stichting De Faunabescherming and Nederlandse Vereniging tot bescherming van Vogels vs. het college van gedeputeerde staten van Fryslân |url={{ECLI|ECLI:NL:RBLEE:2005:AT0660}}|court=Rechtbank Leeuwarden|opinion=03/518 BESLU & 03/547 BESLU}}</ref>

<ref name=Garth>{{cite web |last1=Garth |first1=Sir Samuel |first2=John |last2=Dryden |display-authors=etal |title='Metamorphoses' by Ovid |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Ovid/metam.6.sixth.html}}</ref>

<ref name=Godfrey>{{cite book |last=Godfrey |first=W. Earl |year=1986 |title=The Birds of Canada |edition=Revised |publisher=National Museum of Natural Sciences |isbn=978-0-660-10758-5 |page=179}}</ref>

<ref name=Natuurcompendium>{{cite news |date=11 March 2021 |title=Vinddatum eerste kievitsei in Friesland |trans-title=Dates of Discovery of the First Plover's Eggs in Friesland |language=nl |publisher=Compendium voor de Leefomgeving |url=https://www.clo.nl/nl1118 |access-date=19 February 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=NederlandseOmroepStichting>{{cite news |date=3 March 2008 |title=Eerste kievitsei van 2008 gevonden |trans-title=First plover egg of 2008 found |language=nl |publisher=[[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]] |url=http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2008/3/3/030308_ei.html |access-date=19 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310005657/http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2008/3/3/030308_ei.html |archive-date=10 March 2008}}</ref>

<ref name=ABCC>{{cite web |title=Northern Lapwing ''Vanellus vanellus'' in Armenia |website=Armenian Bird Census, TSE NGO |url=http://www.abcc-am.org/northern-lapwing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130183818/http://www.abcc-am.org/northern-lapwing.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=30 November 2017 }}</ref>

<ref name=oiseaux-birds>{{cite web |title=Northern Lapwing ''Vanellus vanellus'' |website=oiseaux-birds.com |url=http://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-northern-lapwing.html |access-date=1 April 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=RadioNetherlands>{{cite news |date=8 March 2009 |title=Dutch spring heralded by lapwing egg |publisher=Radio Netherlands / Equi Parvi |url=http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/local_news/Dutch-spring-heralded-by-lapwing-egg_50328.html |access-date=9 March 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=Walinga2005>{{cite news |last=Walinga |first=Ruurd |date=17 March 2005 |title=Dertig jaar juridische strijd om kievitseieren |trans-title=Thirty year legal battle for plover's eggs |language=nl |publisher=Friesch Dagblad |url=http://www.frieschdagblad.nl/artikel.asp?artID=22924 |access-date=19 February 2009}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Vanellus vanellus}}
{{Wikispecies|Vanellus vanellus}}
{{NIE Poster|Lapwing}}
*[http://www.wadersforreal.eu LIFE Waders For Real - Lapwing recovery project, Avon Valley, Hampshire/Dorset]
*[http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/l/lapwing/index.asp RSPB Birds by Name – Lapwing]
*[http://www.ebepe.com/html/lapwing.html Lapwing photos] at [http://www.ebepe.com ebepe.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161108171930/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/180_LapwingVvanellus.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 5.7 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
*{{InternetBirdCollection|northern-lapwing-vanellus-vanellus}}
*[http://gallery.new-ecopsychology.org/en/lapwing.htm Lapwing Hatchlings video] from [http://gallery.new-ecopsychology.org/en/gallery.htm Gallery of Living Nature]
*{{field guide birds of the world|Vanellus vanellus}}
*{{BirdLife|22693949|Vanellus vanellus}}
*{{Avibase|name=Vanellus vanellus}}
*{{VIREO|Northern+lapwing}}
*{{Xeno-canto species|Vanellus|vanellus|Northern lapwing}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q25392}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Vanellus]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Birds of Europe]]
[[Category:Migratory birds (Eastern Hemisphere)]]
[[Category:National symbols of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]