Spur-winged Lapwing

Spur-winged Lapwing

Vanellus spinosus

Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Ouagadougou

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%

5 Verified sightings at Ouagadougou
7,824 In all 26 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Spur-winged Lapwing

The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (Vanellus spinosus) is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. The spur-winged lapwing was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. He placed it with the plovers in the genus Charadrius and coined the binomial name Charadrius spinosus. He specified the type locality as Egypt. The specific epithet is from Latin meaning "thorny" (from spina meaning "thorn"). Linnaeus based his account on a description by the Swedish naturalist Fredrik Hasselquist that had been published in 1757. The spur-winged lapwing is now one of 23 species placed in the genus Vanellus that was introduced in 1760 by the French naturalist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The spur-winged lapwing is a medium-large wader with a black crown, chest, foreneck stripe and tail. The face, the rest of the neck and belly are white and the wings and back are light brown. The bill and legs are black. It has a loud did-he-do-it call. The bird's common name refers to a small claw or spur hidden in... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:21

Gambia · 2024

© Zsombor Károlyi · XC1163433 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:45

Ethiopia · 2026

© He Wenjin/文进 · XC1073898 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:05

Gambia · 2025

© Romuald Mikusek · XC1018454 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Niokolo-Koba National Park 🇸🇳 Senegal
~60%
2 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~60%
3 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~60%
4 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~60%
5 Akagera National Park 🇷🇼 Rwanda
~50%
6 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~50%
7 Queen Elizabeth National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~50%
8 Awash National Park 🇪🇹 Ethiopia
~50%
9 Lake Nakuru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
10 Semuliki National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
11 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~40%
12 Selous Game Reserve 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~30%
13 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~30%
14 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~30%
15 Virunga National Park 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo
~30%
16 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~30%
17 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
18 Arusha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~20%
19 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~20%
20 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
21 Lake Manyara National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
22 Ngorongoro Conservation Area 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
23 Lake Mburo National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~10%
24 Tarangire National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
25 Kibale National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
<5%
26 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Luxor 🇪🇬 Egypt
~60%
2 Serrekunda 🇬🇲 Gambia
~50%
3 Cairo 🇪🇬 Egypt
~50%
4 Dakar 🇸🇳 Senegal
~40%
5 Tel Aviv 🇮🇱 Israel
~30%
6 Riyadh 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
~30%
7 Lagos 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~30%
8 Jerusalem 🇮🇱 Israel
~30%
9 Abuja 🇳🇬 Nigeria
~30%
10 N'Djamena 🇹🇩 Chad
~20%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Denver Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
2 Paris Zoological Park 🇫🇷 France In captivity
3 Réserve africaine de Sigean 🇫🇷 France In captivity
4 Parc des oiseaux 🇫🇷 France In captivity
5 Aquarium du palais de la Porte Dorée 🇫🇷 France In captivity
6 San Diego Zoo Safari Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
7 Minnesota Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Living Desert Zoo and Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
9 Bronx Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 Kansas City Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
11 The Maryland Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Toledo Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
13 Detroit Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
14 Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
15 Woodland Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
16 Calgary Zoo 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
17 Fort Worth Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
18 Oregon Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
19 Houston Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
20 San Antonio Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
21 Hogle Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
22 Ueno Zoo 🇯🇵 Japan In captivity
23 Sacramento Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
24 Bird Park Steinen 🇩🇪 Germany In captivity
25 Santillana Zoo 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
26 Central Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
27 Downtown Aquarium, Denver 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
28 Sobela Ocean Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
29 Bird Kingdom 🇨🇦 Canada In captivity
30 Seattle Marine Aquarium 🇺🇸 United States In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Spur-winged Lapwing in Ouagadougou?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spur-winged Lapwing sighting in Ouagadougou on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 85th most-seen of the 86 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Spur-winged Lapwing in Ouagadougou?

January, April–May and July

In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spur-winged Lapwing in Ouagadougou on a given day, against under 5% in March, June, September–October and December, the lowest months. February, August and November have too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Spur-winged Lapwing?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spur-winged Lapwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Ouagadougou the best place to see a Spur-winged Lapwing?

20th of 24

Of the 24 cities where we can rate Spur-winged Lapwing sightings, Ouagadougou ranks 20th at about 10%. The best odds are in Luxor (Egypt, about 60%), Serrekunda (Gambia, about 50%) and Cairo (Egypt, about 50%).

Where does the Spur-winged Lapwing sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Spur-winged Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Ouagadougou (5 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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