Red-wattled Lapwing

Red-wattled Lapwing

Vanellus indicus

Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely
at Nagpur

In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%

690 Verified sightings at Nagpur
29,159 In all 30 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Red-wattled Lapwing

The red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements and the sounds have been variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to the colloquial name of did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far from water, they sometimes form large aggregations in the non-breeding season (winter). They nest in a ground scrape laying three to four camouflaged eggs. Adults near the nest fly around, diving at potential predators while calling noisily. The cryptically patterned chicks hatch and immediately follow their parents to feed, hiding by lying low on the ground or in the grass when threatened.

Traditionally well known to native hunters, the red-wattled lapwing was first described in a book by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux in 1781. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:22

Thailand · 2026

© Corentin Rivière · XC1184737 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:10

Sri Lanka · 2026

© Uku Paal · XC1097285 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Flight call1:02

India · 2026

© Ding Li Yong · XC1087959 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
~80%
2 Yala National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~80%
3 Keoladeo National Park 🇮🇳 India
~80%
4 Wilpattu National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~80%
5 Udawalawe National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~70%
6 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~70%
7 Gir National Park 🇮🇳 India
~70%
8 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
~70%
9 Bandipur National Park 🇮🇳 India
~60%
10 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~60%
11 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~60%
12 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~60%
13 Nagarhole National Park 🇮🇳 India
~60%
14 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~50%
15 Minneriya National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~50%
16 Horton Plains National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~50%
17 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~50%
18 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
~50%
19 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~50%
20 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~40%
21 Mudumalai National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
22 Periyar National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
23 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~20%
24 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
25 Khao Sok National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
26 Sundarbans National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
27 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
<5%
28 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
29 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
30 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kota 🇮🇳 India
~90%
2 Ludhiana 🇮🇳 India
~80%
3 Bhopal 🇮🇳 India
~80%
4 Indore 🇮🇳 India
~80%
5 Agra 🇮🇳 India
~70%
6 Jodhpur 🇮🇳 India
~70%
7 Jalandhar 🇮🇳 India
~70%
8 Bareilly 🇮🇳 India
~60%
9 Rajkot 🇮🇳 India
~60%
10 Chandigarh 🇮🇳 India
~60%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Walsrode World Bird Park 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
2 Al Ain Zoo 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates In captivity
3 Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden 🇮🇳 India In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Red-wattled Lapwing in Nagpur?

Likely

About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Red-wattled Lapwing sighting in Nagpur on a given day, based on 690 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 9th most-seen of the 196 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.

When is the best time to see a Red-wattled Lapwing in Nagpur?

May and July

In those months about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Red-wattled Lapwing in Nagpur on a given day, against about 40% in January and October, the lowest months. Those are among Nagpur's wettest months, with about 160 mm of rain a month against almost none in December.

What time of day is best to see a Red-wattled Lapwing?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-wattled 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.

Is Nagpur the best place to see a Red-wattled Lapwing?

23rd of 78

Of the 78 cities where we can rate Red-wattled Lapwing sightings, Nagpur ranks 23rd at about 50%. The best odds are in Kota (India, about 90%), Ludhiana (India, about 80%) and Bhopal (India, about 80%).

Where does the Red-wattled Lapwing sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Red-wattled Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Nagpur (690 verified sightings), 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.

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