Vanellus duvaucelii
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing sighting in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 187th most-seen of the 251 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a River Lapwing in Ranthambore National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, August–September and November–April, the lowest months.
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.
10th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate River Lapwing sightings, Ranthambore National Park ranks 10th at under 5%. 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 Ranthambore National Park (genus Vanellus, Lapwings) are Red-wattled Lapwing (about 80%) and Yellow-wattled Lapwing (about 10%), 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 Ranthambore National Park (30 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.
