Animal
Northern lapwing
The northern lapwing is a black-and-white bird with a long crest on its head. It nests on the ground in fields. In spring, males tumble through the sky.
The northern lapwing is a wading bird of fields and wet meadows with dark green back feathers that often look black, a white belly and a long, wispy crest. It breeds across Europe and Asia and spends the winter as far south as North Africa, India and Japan. Its numbers are falling, mostly because too few chicks survive.
Vanellus vanellus is a mostly migratory plover that breeds in wet grasslands, meadows and farmland from Europe to eastern Siberia and northern China. BirdLife International assessed it as Near Threatened for the IUCN Red List (criteria A2bce+3bce+4bce; assessed 19 June 2025, published 2025): about 4.3 to 7 million mature birds, declining by an estimated 20 to 29 percent over three generations, mainly because too few chicks are raised.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the northern lapwing
The northern lapwing is a black-and-white bird. It has a long, thin crest on its head.
Its back is shiny dark green.
The northern lapwing is a wading bird with a white belly and glossy dark green back feathers that often look black from far away. A long, thin crest sweeps up from the back of its head.
An adult weighs about 250 grams. One of its other English names is peewit, which copies its display calls. Its name 'lapwing' comes from the way it flies, zigzagging through the sky.
The BTO describes a handsome wader with glossy dark green plumage, often looking black at a distance, and a long crest; its English folk names include peewit, green plover, hornpie and flopwing. The RSPB says 'peewit' imitates its display calls and that 'lapwing' relates to its wavering, zigzagging flight; its black-and-white look and round-winged shape in flight make it distinctive.
Live adults in Britain average 250 grams (most between 214 and 295 grams) with a wing length of about 231 millimeters (BTO); Wikidata gives a wingspan of about 67 to 72 centimeters.
Quick facts
- Group
- Bird
- Weight
- 0.21 to 0.3 kg
- Lifespan in the wild
- 5 years
Wet meadows and farm fields
Lapwings live in fields and wet meadows.
They nest on the ground in short grass.
Northern lapwings breed from Europe across Asia to Siberia, Mongolia and northern China. They like wet grassland and meadows with short grass and patches of bare soil, and they also nest on moors, bogs and farm fields.
In winter, most move to western Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, northern India, south-east China, Korea and southern Japan. There they feed on damp grassland, farm fields, riverbanks, lake shores and mudflats.
The IUCN gives a breeding range from Europe, Turkey and north-west Iran through western Russia and Kazakhstan to southern and eastern Siberia, Mongolia and northern China, and a winter range from western Europe, the east Atlantic islands and North Africa through the Mediterranean, Middle East and Iran to northern India, south-east China, the Korean peninsula and southern Japan (Wiersma et al. 2020). It lives from sea level to 2,200 meters but breeds mostly below 1,000.
Breeding birds prefer wet natural grasslands and hay meadows with short swards and bare patches, and also use grassy moors, swampy heaths, bogs and arable fields. In winter they roost on large open pastures and feed on damp grassland, stubble and plowed fields, riverbanks, marshes, ditches, estuaries and mudflats (IUCN, after del Hoyo et al. 1996).
Continents
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
- Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Wet grasslands, meadows and farmland where northern lapwings live all year or come to breed, from Europe to Siberia, Mongolia and northern China. The Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein are also in the range but have no separate map shape.
Places: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herz., Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary and 47 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in Sweden, Netherlands, UK, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Spain and 92 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Visits for part of the year · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
Countries where the IUCN lists northern lapwings only outside the breeding season, from North Africa and the Middle East to India, Korea and Japan. Bahrain, Gibraltar, Hong Kong and Malta are also listed but have no separate map shape.
Places: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Iraq, Japan and 17 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Worms and insects
Lapwings eat worms and insects.
They find them in grass and mud.
Lapwings feed mainly on earthworms, insects and insect larvae, such as leatherjackets. They also eat spiders, snails and frogs, and in Africa small fish and seeds.
They feed where there is plenty of this food, such as grazed pasture. Wet grassland is an especially important place for them to find food.
The IUCN lists adult and larval insects (beetles, ants, flies, crickets, grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, cicadas, butterflies and moths), spiders, snails, earthworms, frogs, and in Africa small fish and seeds or other plant material (Urban et al. 1986; del Hoyo et al. 1996). The RSPB says lapwings feed mainly on earthworms, leatherjackets, insects and their larvae, often on grazed pasture, and that wet grassland is a particularly important food source.
The IUCN notes that keeping water levels high until mid-summer keeps the soil soft enough to probe and provides enough prey for adults and chicks (Duttmann et al. 2018).
Did you know?
One lapwing lived to be 21 years old.
The oldest lapwing known from ringing lived for more than 21 years.
The BTO's maximum recorded age for a ringed lapwing is 21 years, 1 month and 15 days (set in 1987).
Crest, colors and round wings
A lapwing has a long crest that sticks up from its head.
Its wings are round at the ends.
The lapwing has a long, thin crest. The RSPB says that even without it, the bird's black-and-white look and rounded wings make it distinctive in flight. Its back is glossy dark green, though from far away it often looks black.
Lapwings belong to the plover family. Their chicks are covered in fluffy down and can leave the nest soon after they hatch.
Field marks are the long crest, glossy dark green upperparts that often look black at a distance (BTO), and a black-and-white pattern with round wings in flight (RSPB). Adult wing length averages about 231 millimeters, males slightly longer than females (234 against 228; BTO).
Lapwings are plovers, family Charadriidae (BTO); chicks are precocial and downy, able to leave the nest soon after hatching (BTO).
A nest in the grass
A lapwing's nest is a little dip in the short grass.
There are usually four eggs. The fluffy chicks can walk soon after they hatch.
Lapwings nest from spring into early summer. The nest is just a shallow scrape in short grass or on a field plowed in spring. In Britain, the first eggs are laid around mid-April, and there are usually 4 eggs.
The female does most of the sitting, for 25 to 34 days. The fluffy chicks can walk soon after hatching, and parents nesting on farm fields often lead them to grassy pasture to feed. The young fly at 35 to 40 days old.
The IUCN gives breeding from April to July in solitary pairs, though pairs may nest close together in good habitat; the nest is a shallow scrape in short grass (del Hoyo et al. 1996). The RSPB gives mid-March to June in Britain, on spring-tilled arable land or short grassland with few livestock.
BTO nest records give an average first-clutch date of 12 April (25 March to 25 May), one brood a year, a typical clutch of 4 eggs (average 3.76), incubation mostly by the female (occasionally the male) for 25 to 34 days, and precocial, downy chicks that fledge at 35 to 40 days. Breeding typically starts at 2 years.
Tumbling display flights
In spring, male lapwings tumble and zoom through the sky.
They call 'peewit' as they fly.
In the breeding season, male lapwings show off with noisy, tumbling, zooming display flights to impress females. In Britain, the BTO calls these flights a welcome, if increasingly uncommon, sign of spring.
Most lapwings are migrants. In Britain, many stay all winter while others leave, and in very cold weather lapwings from mainland Europe move to Britain. In winter they rest on large open pastures and feed on fields, estuaries and mudflats.
The RSPB describes males' tumbling and zooming display flights in the breeding season, and the BTO calls the noisy display flights a welcome, if increasingly uncommon, sign of spring. Most populations are fully migratory, moving out of Europe on a broad front, but some breeding populations in temperate areas are sedentary (IUCN, after del Hoyo et al. 1996).
UK breeders are partial migrants: many stay, some leave, and severe cold can push continental birds into the UK (RSPB). Winter numbers in Britain have shifted east, perhaps in response to milder winters, and numbers have risen in coastal wetlands as birds appear to feed more on mudflats at low tide (BTO). The typical life expectancy of a lapwing that reaches breeding age is 5 years; the oldest ringed bird was 21 years, 1 month and 15 days old (1987).
Did you know?
Another name for the lapwing is peewit, like its call.
In Britain, the lapwing is also called the peewit, a name that copies its display calls.
The RSPB says 'peewit' imitates the display calls; other English folk names are green plover, hornpie and flopwing (BTO).
Listen to a lapwing
Listen to the sound at the start of this page.
It is a real lapwing calling in England.
At the start of this page you can play a real recording of a northern lapwing's call. It was made at Frensham Great Pond in Surrey, England, on 13 April 1980, and is kept by the British Library.
The RSPB says the lapwing's other name, peewit, copies its display calls.
The recording on this page was made by Aubrey John Williams at Frensham Great Pond, Surrey, England, on 13 April 1980 (British Library, shared on Wikimedia Commons); its archive file name describes a lapwing display flight. The RSPB says the name 'peewit' imitates the display calls.
Did you know?
The name lapwing comes from the way it flies.
The name 'lapwing' comes from the lapwing's wavering, zigzagging flight.
The RSPB says the name relates to the way the bird flies, zigzagging through the sky.
Helping farmland birds
There are fewer lapwings than there used to be.
Farmers can help by looking out for their nests.
The northern lapwing is listed as near threatened. There are still millions, but their numbers have fallen fast in some places. In the UK, breeding lapwings fell by 65 percent between 1967 and 2024.
Too few chicks survive. In the UK, changes in farming, such as draining wet fields and sowing crops in autumn instead of spring, have taken away places to nest and feed. The RSPB works with farmers to look out for lapwing nests when they use large machines.
BirdLife International assessed Vanellus vanellus as Near Threatened (A2bce+3bce+4bce) for the IUCN Red List (assessed 19 June 2025, published 2025): 6.4 to 10.5 million individuals in three flyway populations (Wetlands International 2023), about 4.3 to 7 million mature birds, declining 20 to 29 percent over three generations; generation length 5.88 years. The main threat is low productivity from habitat loss and nest and chick predation: about 0.8 fledglings per pair are needed for a stable population, but rates as low as 0.23 (England) and 0.46 (the Netherlands) have been recorded.
The BTO links UK declines to the switch from spring to autumn sowing, drainage of grasslands and loss of mixed farming, with chick survival the key factor; UK breeding numbers fell 65 percent from 1967 to 2024, and the UK breeding population was about 98,000 pairs in 2016. Lapwings are also hunted in some countries. The IUCN suggests marking nests so farm machines avoid them, delaying the first hay cut and keeping water levels high, and the RSPB works with farmers on suitable nesting habitat.
IUCN Red List
How is the northern lapwing doing in the wild?
- Least Concern
- Near Threatened (this animal)
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Near Threatened
Not at risk yet, but it could be soon.
Amazing facts
-
Another name for the lapwing is peewit, like its call.
In Britain, the lapwing is also called the peewit, a name that copies its display calls.
The RSPB says 'peewit' imitates the display calls; other English folk names are green plover, hornpie and flopwing (BTO).
-
Lapwing chicks are fluffy and can walk soon after they hatch.
Lapwing chicks are covered in down and can walk soon after hatching. Parents nesting on farm fields often lead them to grassy pasture to feed.
Chicks are precocial and downy (BTO); birds nesting on arable land often walk their chicks onto grazed pasture to feed (RSPB).
-
One lapwing lived to be 21 years old.
The oldest lapwing known from ringing lived for more than 21 years.
The BTO's maximum recorded age for a ringed lapwing is 21 years, 1 month and 15 days (set in 1987).
-
The name lapwing comes from the way it flies.
The name 'lapwing' comes from the lapwing's wavering, zigzagging flight.
The RSPB says the name relates to the way the bird flies, zigzagging through the sky.
Words to know
- crest
- a tuft of feathers on a bird's head
- plover
- a kind of wading bird that often feeds on open ground
- scrape
- a shallow dip in the ground that a bird uses as a nest
- precocial
- able to walk and feed soon after hatching
- display flight
- a special flight a bird makes to attract a mate or claim a territory
- near threatened
- close to being at risk of dying out in the wild
Discovery challenge
-
What does a lapwing have on its head?
Which feature sticks up from the back of a lapwing's head?
Which head feature is a key field mark of Vanellus vanellus?
- A long, thin crest
- A red patch
- A blue shield
Show the answer
A long, thin crest
A long, thin crest!
A long, wispy crest.
The long crest (BTO; RSPB).
-
Where does a lapwing make its nest?
What is a lapwing's nest like?
How is the northern lapwing's nest built?
- A shallow dip on the ground
- A cup high in a tree
- A hole in a riverbank
Show the answer
A shallow dip on the ground
A little dip in the grass.
A shallow scrape in short grass or on a plowed field.
A shallow scrape in short grass (IUCN, after del Hoyo et al. 1996).
-
What do lapwings mostly eat?
What are a lapwing's main foods?
Which prey does the RSPB name as the lapwing's main food?
- Earthworms and insects
- Fish and crabs
- Fruit and nuts
Show the answer
Earthworms and insects
Worms and bugs!
Mainly earthworms, insects and insect larvae.
Earthworms, leatherjackets, insects and their larvae (RSPB).
-
Are there more or fewer lapwings than before?
How have lapwing numbers changed?
Why is the northern lapwing listed as Near Threatened?
- There are fewer than before
- There are many more than before
- They have stayed exactly the same
Show the answer
There are fewer than before
Fewer. People are trying to help.
They are falling: too few chicks survive on modern farmland.
A decline of 20 to 29 percent over three generations, driven by low productivity from habitat loss and predation (IUCN).
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a small, flat country in northwestern Europe on the North Sea. Its name means low-lying country: more than a quarter of it lies below sea level, protected by dunes and dikes. About 18.2 million people lived there in 2026, and its capital is Amsterdam, a city of canals.
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Watch
Country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, or UK, lies on islands off the northwest coast of Europe. It is made up of four parts, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and about 69.5 million people live there. Its capital is London.
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Europe and Asia, where northern lapwings breed, and the places they go in winter.
- Describe what a lapwing looks like and how it nests on the ground.
- Explain why lapwing numbers are falling on farmland.
- Describe ways farmers can help lapwings.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a nest on the ground be in danger from farm machines?
- Why might chicks that can walk soon after hatching need short grass nearby?
- How could farmers and birds share the same fields?
Try at home or in class
- With a grown-up, visit a park or field in spring and watch for birds that feed on the ground. What are they eating?
- Make a 'nest scrape' in a sandpit with your hand and place four pebbles in it. How hard is it to see from a few steps away?
Key vocabulary: crest, plover, scrape, precocial, display flight, near threatened
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Vanellus vanellus (BirdLife International, global assessment, assessed 19 June 2025, published 2025) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Vanellus vanellus: range, population, ecology, threats and conservation text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Vanellus vanellus: IUCN Red List global assessment record (BirdLife International 2025), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Lapwing (BirdFacts) , British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)
- Lapwing , RSPB
- File:Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) female display Marken.jpg (Marken, Netherlands, 7 April 2026, Charles J. Sharp) , Wikimedia Commons
- File:Northern Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) (W1CDR0001471 BD4).ogg (Frensham Great Pond, Surrey, 13 April 1980, Aubrey John Williams, British Library) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.