River Lapwing

River Lapwing

Vanellus duvaucelii

Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic

LCNTNear ThreatenedVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Prayagraj

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

109 Verified sightings at Prayagraj
3,471 In all 11 parks From 2019 to 2026
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the River Lapwing

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 →

Sounds

Call0:18

Thailand · 2025

© Greg Irving · XC973823 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:37

Laos · 2024

© Bram Piot · XC883932 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:36

India · 2007

© David Farrow · XC37587 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Royal Bardia National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~50%
2 Chitwan National Park 🇳🇵 Nepal
~50%
3 Jim Corbett National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Satpura National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
5 Kaziranga National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Manas National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
7 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~10%
8 Royal Manas National Park 🇧🇹 Bhutan
~10%
9 Bandhavgarh National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
10 Ranthambore National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
11 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Agra 🇮🇳 India
~30%
2 Prayagraj 🇮🇳 India
~20%
3 Varanasi 🇮🇳 India
~10%
4 Kathmandu 🇳🇵 Nepal
~10%
5 Lucknow 🇮🇳 India
<5%
6 Bhubaneshwar 🇮🇳 India
<5%
7 New Delhi 🇮🇳 India
<5%
8 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a River Lapwing in Prayagraj?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing sighting in Prayagraj on a given day, based on 109 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 139 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a River Lapwing in Prayagraj?

August and December–January

In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing in Prayagraj on a given day, against under 5% in April, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a River Lapwing?

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.

Is Prayagraj the best place to see a River Lapwing?

2nd of 8

Of the 8 cities where we can rate River Lapwing sightings, Prayagraj ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Agra (India, about 30%).

Which relatives of the River Lapwing live in Prayagraj?

Same genus: Vanellus

The closest relatives of the River Lapwing that you can see in Prayagraj (genus Vanellus, Lapwings) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 50%) and Yellow-wattled Lapwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the River Lapwing sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the River Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Prayagraj (109 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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