Red-wattled Lapwing: how to recognise it
A bird of Europe and Asia. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © Matthieu Gauvain · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Vanellus indicus
- Family
- Plovers and Lapwings
- Size
- About 35 cm
- Habitat
- Wet fields, ploughed land and pond margins
- Found in
- Europe and Asia
The key marks
Brown-backed lapwing with a black head, throat and chest, a white band from belly up the neck, a red wattle in front of the eye, a red black-tipped bill and yellow legs. Spur-winged Lapwing has black legs and no red wattle.
Voice
A loud, scolding 'did-he-do-it'.
Good to know
Its loud alarm call is often rendered as 'did-he-do-it', and it sounds it by day and by night when anything comes near.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Spur-winged Lapwing. Look at the marks above one by one rather than the overall colour, and practise telling the two apart with real photos.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in wet fields, ploughed land and pond margins. It is especially common in Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.