Vanellus duvaucelii
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing sighting in Varanasi on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 45th most-seen of the 92 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and March
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing in Varanasi on a given day, against about 10% in February and April–December, the lowest months. Those are among Varanasi's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 250 mm in July.
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.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate River Lapwing sightings, Varanasi ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Agra (India, about 30%) and Prayagraj (India, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the River Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Varanasi (31 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.
