Vanellus duvaucelii
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The river lapwing (Vanellus duvaucelii) is a lapwing species which breeds from the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Southeast Asia. It range includes much of northern and northeastern India, and extends through Southeast Asia to Vietnam. It appears to be entirely sedentary. Formerly also called spur-winged lapwing, this name is better reserved for one of the "spur-winged plovers" of old, Vanellus spinosus of Africa, whose scientific name it literally translates. The masked lapwing of Australasia was at one time also called "spur-winged plover" (and still is in New Zealand), completing the name confusion.
This species resembles the closely related spur-winged lapwing of Africa, and has sometimes been considered conspecific. The species name commemorates Alfred Duvaucel. The river lapwing is 29–32 cm long. It has a black crest, crown, face and central throat and grey-white neck sides and nape. It has a grey-brown breast band and white underparts with a black belly patch. The back is brown, the rump is white and the tail is black. This is a striking species in flight, with black primaries, white under wings and upper wing secondaries, and brown upper wing coverts.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 2 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 3 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Kaziranga National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Manas National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 9 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing sighting in Chitwan National Park on a given day, based on 799 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 367 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing in Chitwan National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January–March, May and July–August, the lowest months. That is one of Chitwan National Park's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain against almost none in November.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most River Lapwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 11 parks where we can rate River Lapwing sightings, Chitwan National Park ranks 2nd at about 50%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Royal Bardia National Park (Nepal, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the River Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Chitwan National Park (799 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
