Vanellus senegallus
Silhouette: Rebecca Groom · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Wattled Lapwing sighting in South Luangwa National Park on a given day, based on 113 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 91st most-seen of the 257 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.
April and May
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an African Wattled Lapwing in South Luangwa National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November, the lowest month. Those are among South Luangwa National Park's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 310 mm in January.
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.
13th of 28
Of the 28 parks where we can rate African Wattled Lapwing sightings, South Luangwa National Park ranks 13th at about 20%. 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 South Luangwa National Park (genus Vanellus, Lapwings) are White-headed Lapwing (about 70%), Blacksmith Lapwing (about 40%) and Crowned Lapwing (about 20%), 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 South Luangwa National Park (113 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.
