Northern lapwing

The northern lapwing was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tringa vanellus.^[4] The species is now placed with the other lapwings in the genus Vanellus that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760.^[5][6] The scientific name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for the northern lapwing and derives from vannus, a winnowing fan.^[7] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.^[6]

The name lapwing has been variously attributed to the "lapping" sound its wings make in flight, to its irregular flight path due to its large wings (the Oxford English Dictionary derives this from an Old English word meaning "to totter"),^[8] or from its habit of drawing potential predators away from its nest by trailing a wing as if it were broken. The names peewit, pewit, tuit or tew-it are onomatopoeic and refer to the bird's characteristic call.^[9]

The northern lapwing is a 28–33 cm (11–13 in) long bird with a 67–87 cm (26–34 in) wingspan and a body mass of 128–330 g (4.5–11.6 oz).^[10] It has rounded wings and a crest. It is also the shortest-legged of the lapwings. Its plumage is mainly black and white, but its back is tinted green. The male has a long crest and a black crown, throat and breast, which contrast with an otherwise white face. Females and young birds have shorter crests and less distinct markings on their heads, but their plumage is otherwise quite similar.

This is a vocal bird during the breeding season, with constant calling while the male performs his crazed tumbling display flight. The typical contact call is a loud, shrill "pee-wit" which gives them their alternative name of peewit.^[8] Displaying males usually make a wheezy "pee-wit, wit wit, eeze wit" during their display flight. These birds also make squeaking or mewing sounds.

It is highly migratory over most of its extensive range, wintering as far south as North Africa, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and parts of China. It migrates mainly by day, often in large flocks. Lowland breeders in most westerly parts of Europe are resident. Occasionally, it is a vagrant to North America, especially after storms, as evidenced by sightings in Canada in December 1927 and in January 1966.^[11]

It is a wader that breeds in cultivated areas and other habitats with short vegetation. Three to four eggs are laid in a scrape in the ground. Both the nest and the young are fiercely defended against all intruders, including horses and cattle.

In winter, it forms huge flocks on open land, particularly arable land and mud-flats.

Its diet consists mainly of insects and other small invertebrates. This species often feeds in mixed flocks with golden plovers and black-headed gulls. The latter often rob the two plovers but also provide a degree of protection against predators. They also beat the ground with one leg until worms surface, a technique known as worm charming.^[12]

Like the golden plovers, this species prefers to feed at night when there is moonlight.

The northern lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

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  In some years the species is more sociable and gathers in large flocks after breeding. In the picture, part of a large flock estimated at around 3,000 individuals on September 24, 2017 in Ystad.
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  Flying
• Alarmed in flowery meadow on Texel, the Netherlands
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  Chick in the Netherlands
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  Egg – MHNT
• 
  A large flock flying by

National surveys in England and Wales have shown a decline in the population between 1987 and 1998. Since 2009, the northern lapwing has had Red List conservation status in the United Kingdom.^[13] Intensive agricultural techniques have had an adverse effect on the numbers of this species. In the lowlands, this includes the loss of rough grassland and its conversion into arable or improved grassland, loss of mixed farms, and switch from spring- to autumn-sown crops. In the uplands, losses may be due to increasedgrazing density. Natural England provides grant aid to help restore lapwing habitats as part of its Environmental Stewardship Scheme. The organisation suggests an option within this scheme called 'Fallow plots for ground-nesting birds'. Uncropped plots of at least 2 ha (4.9 acres) in size provide nesting habitat and are located in suitable arable fields, which provide additional foraging habitat. Locating the plots within 2 km (1.2 mi) of extensively grazed grassland will provide additional foraging habitat. The plots are cultivated in the spring to produce a rough fallow, which is maintained without the input of fertiliser or pesticides.^[14] In addition to agricultural intensification and land-use change, predation of nests and chicks contributes to wader declines, including of lapwing. By radio-tagging lapwing chicks, and using automatic radio tracking systems, the timing of chick predation can be revealed, which provides additional insights into the importance of different predators. Lapwing chicks are predated both in the day and at night, with mammalian predators having the greatest impact.^[15]

In Armenia, the decline in population and loss of breeding habitats has also been documented. The threats are thought to be the intensification of land use and hunting, but further investigations are required to clarify the threats.^[16] In the Middle East, the northern lapwing is threatened by overhunting, as large numbers of them are along their winter migration routes. Several photos surfacing from the region show large numbers of Northern lapwings alongside other migratory birds, including the threatened European turtle dove and European golden-plover.^[17]