{{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 = {{Easy CSS image crop |image = Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) female Marken.jpg |desired_width = 220 |crop_left_perc = 5 |crop_right_perc = 30 |crop_top_perc = 10 |crop_bottom_perc = 5 |alt = }}
|image_caption = female, Netherlands |image2 = Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) (W1CDR0001471 BD4).ogg |image2_caption = Display calls, Surrey, England |taxon = Vanellus vanellus |authority = (Linnaeus, 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 Eurosiberia.
==Taxonomy== The northern lapwing was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the 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 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, to its irregular flight path 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 it were broken. The names ''peewit'', ''pewit'', ''tuit'' or ''tew-it'' are 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. Its plumage is mainly black and white, but its back is tinted green. The male has a long crest and a black crown, throat and breast, which contrast with an otherwise white face. Females and young birds have shorter crests and less distinct markings on their heads, but their plumage is otherwise quite similar.
This is a vocal bird during the breeding season, with constant calling while the male performs his crazed tumbling display flight. The typical contact call is a loud, shrill "pee-wit" which gives them their alternative 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 migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering as far south as North Africa, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of China. It migrates mainly by day, often in large flocks. Lowland breeders in most westerly parts of Europe are resident. Occasionally, it is a vagrant to North America, especially after storms, as evidenced by sightings in Canada in December 1927 and in January 1966.<ref name=Godfrey/>
It is a wader that breeds in cultivated areas and other habitats with short vegetation. Three to four eggs are laid in a scrape in the ground. Both the nest and the young are fiercely defended against all intruders, including horses and cattle.
In winter, it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly arable land and mud-flats.
Its diet consists mainly of insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in mixed flocks with golden plovers and black-headed gulls. The latter often rob the two plovers but also provide a degree of protection against predators. They also beat the ground with one leg until worms surface, a technique known as 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 mode = packed heights = 160px> Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) female display Marken.jpg|female displaying Vanellus vanellus MHNT.jpg|Egg – MHNT Vanellus vanellus -Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands -chick-8a.jpg|Chick Northern lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) in flight Marken.jpg Vanellus vanellus mobbing Circus aeruginosus.jpg|mobbing a western marsh harrier near its nest Tofsvipa (Vanellus vanellus) - 2017 -Ystad.jpg|In some years the species is more sociable and gathers in large flocks after breeding. Alarmerende kievit in bloemrijk grasland-4961654.webm|Alarmed in flowery meadow on Texel </gallery>
==Population decline== National surveys in England and Wales have shown a decline in the population between 1987 and 1998. 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> Intensive agricultural techniques have had an adverse effect on the numbers of this species. In the lowlands, this includes the loss of rough grassland and its conversion into arable or improved grassland, loss of mixed farms, and switch from spring- to autumn-sown crops. In the uplands, losses may be due to increasedgrazing density. Natural England provides grant aid to help restore lapwing habitats as part of its Environmental Stewardship Scheme. The organisation suggests an option within this scheme called 'Fallow plots for ground-nesting birds'. Uncropped plots of 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 maintained 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 decline in population and loss of breeding habitats has also been documented. The threats are thought to be the intensification of land use and hunting, but further investigations are required to clarify the threats.<ref name=ABCC/> In the Middle East, the northern lapwing is threatened by overhunting, as large numbers of them are along their winter migration routes. Several photos surfacing from the region show large numbers of 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 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 storks (''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 Europe, mentioned in Evelyn Waugh's ''Brideshead Revisited'', which is set in 1920s - 1940s British aristocratic society. In the Netherlands, there is a cultural-historical competition to find the first peewit egg of the year (''het eerste kievietsei''). This is especially popular in the province of Friesland, but there are also regional competitions. Collecting peewit eggs is prohibited by the European Union, but Friesland was granted an exception for cultural and historical reasons. The Frisian exception was removed in 2005 by a court, which determined that the Frisian 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,<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|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 transformed into an ''epops'' (6.674); Ovid presumably had the 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