Southern Lapwing: how to recognise it
A bird of North America and South America. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © joakosbirdlife · CC BY-NC · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Vanellus chilensis
- Family
- Plovers and Lapwings
- Size
- About 33 cm
- Habitat
- Fields, lake edges and lawns
- Found in
- North America and South America
The key marks
Grey-brown lapwing with a short crest, a pale face, a black chest patch on pale underparts, a red eye and bill, red legs and a wing spur. Northern Lapwing has a long thin crest, a glossy green-black back and a black bib on a white belly.
Voice
A loud, sharp 'tero-tero', which gave it its local name.
Good to know
Noisy and bold, it flies at intruders that come near its ground nest, and has a small spur on the wing.
Do not confuse with
Compare it with the Northern 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 fields, lake edges and lawns. It is especially common in Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.