Vanellus senegallus
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus), also known as the Senegal wattled plover or simply wattled lapwing, is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder in most of sub-Saharan Africa outside the rainforests, although it has seasonal movements.
These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are large brown waders with a black crown, white forehead and large yellow facial wattles. The tail is white, tipped black, and the long legs are yellow. In flight, the upperwings have black flight feathers and brown coverts separated by a white bar. The underwings are white with black flight feathers. The African wattled lapwing has a loud peep-peep call.
This species is a common breeder in wet lowland habitats, especially damp grassland. It often feeds in drier habitats, such as golf courses, picking insects and other invertebrates from the ground. It lays three or four eggs on a ground scrape.
The African wattled lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. Wattled plover - Species text in The... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 2 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 3 | Abuja | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 4 | Maputo | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 5 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 7 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 8 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Parc Zoologique et Botanique de Mulhouse | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Valencia Bioparc | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | National Aviary | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an African Wattled Lapwing sighting in Etosha National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 205th most-seen of the 260 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Wattled Lapwing in Etosha National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months. Those are among Etosha National Park's wettest months, with about 40 mm of rain a month against almost none in June.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African 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.
27th of 28
Of the 28 parks where we can rate African Wattled Lapwing sightings, Etosha National Park ranks 27th at under 5%. The best odds are in Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 60%), Niokolo-Koba National Park (Senegal, about 60%) and Kafue National Park (Zambia, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Vanellus
The closest relatives of the African Wattled Lapwing that you can see in Etosha National Park (genus Vanellus, Lapwings) are Blacksmith Lapwing (about 80%) and Crowned Lapwing (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Wattled Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Etosha National Park (22 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.
