Vanellus duvaucelii
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~80%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing sighting in Kaziranga National Park on a given day, based on 423 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 98th most-seen of the 323 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January to March
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing in Kaziranga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October, the lowest month. Those are among Kaziranga National Park's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against 520 mm in June. June and July have too few records to rate.
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.
5th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate River Lapwing sightings, Kaziranga National Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Royal Bardia National Park (Nepal, about 50%), Chitwan National Park (Nepal, about 50%) and Jim Corbett National Park (India, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Vanellus
The closest relatives of the River Lapwing that you can see in Kaziranga National Park (genus Vanellus, Lapwings) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 70%), Grey-headed Lapwing (about 40%) and Northern Lapwing (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the River Lapwing is recorded against all the birds logged in Kaziranga National Park (423 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.
