Northern Lapwing
Scientific Name: Vanellus vanellusMaltese Name: Venewwa
Family: Plovers and lapwings (Charadriidae)
Occurence: Regular
Breeds in Malta: No
Overview:
The Northern Lapwing is a bird in the plover family. It has rounded wings and a crest. It is mainly black and white, but the back is tinted green. It has a shrill "Peewit" call. It is common through temperate Eurasia. It is highly migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering further south as far as north Africa, northern India, Pakistan, and parts of China. It migrates often in large flocks. It is a wader which breeds on cultivated land and other short vegetation habitats. The nest and young are defended noisily and aggressively against all intruders, including horses and cattle. In winter it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly arable land and mud-flats. This species often feeds in mixed flocks with Golden Plovers
Status:
Regular migrant and winter visitor. A flock of up to 300 birds used to winter annually at Hal Far but have stopped doing so since the late 1970's due to hunting. Unfortunately, the trapping of Lapwings, although illegal, is still very common in Malta. Huge areas of land are transformed into trapping sites and a large amount of Lapwings along with Golden Plovers are trapped, day and night.
When to See:
Mid-October till mid-March but mostly from late Ocotober till Decmeber.
Where to See:
Best place to see Lapwings migrating is at the Malta International Airport, where they sometimes alight on the runway. May be seen from any other place, flying over, during migration. Due to human disturbance, very rarely seen on Garrigue areas although it is a very suitable habitat.
Photographs:
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Adult Lapwing, Ghadira Nature Reserve |
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Resting flock of Lapwings, MIA, 21st December 2010 |
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