Thelong-toed lapwing (Vanellus crassirostris), also known as thelong-toed plover, is a species ofwading bird in thelapwing subfamily, within the familyCharadriidae. It is mainly sedentary and found across central and easternAfrica, fromChad andSouth Sudan in the north toMozambique in the southeast of its range. It is one of 13 species of ground-nesting lapwings found in Africa.

Long-toed lapwing
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Charadriidae
Genus:	Vanellus
Species:	V. crassirostris
Binomial name
Vanellus crassirostris (Hartlaub, 1855)
Synonyms
Chetusia crassirostrisHartlaub, 1855Hemiparra crassirostris(Hartlaub, 1855)

The long-toed lapwing wasformally described byGustav Hartlaub in 1855 under thebinomial nameChettusia crassirostris in theJournal für Ornithologie.^[2] The species is now one of 24 placed with the otherlapwings in the genusVanellus which was described in 1760 byMathurin Jacques Brisson, a Frenchzoologist.^[3]Vanellus comes from theMedieval Latin 'vannus', meaningwinnowing fan, a reference to the sound of the wings of lapwings in flight.^[4] The species namecrassirostris means thick-billed.

The long-toed lapwing was formerly placed within themonospecific genusHemiparra, but now resides in the genusVanellus with other lapwings.^[5]Vanellus is one of 10genera of thefamilyCharadriidae, which aside from the lapwings also containsplovers anddotterels. Members of Charadriidae generally huntinvertebrates by sight with a run-and-pause technique and most have a sociallymonogamousmating system.

Twosubspecies are recognized:nominateV. c. crassirostris is found mainly fromSouth Sudan toUganda, andV. c. leucopterus is distributed fromTanzania to northeastSouth Africa, as well as westernAngola.^[6][5] Their ranges meet in Tanzania, southeastD.R. Congo, and northernMalawi, where there is an intergrade zone,^[5] in which both subspecies mate with each other. Intergrades were formerly treated as a separate subspeciesV. c. hybrida.^[5]

The two subspecies have slight differences inplumage andmorphology. The nominateV. c. crassirostris has blackflight feathers; inV. c. leucopterus, only the outer primary feathers are black while the inner primary and secondary flight feathers are white.^[7]V. c. leucopterus has a shorter wing length yet a longertarsus thanV. c. crassirostris, although the differences in length are only on the order of millimetres.^[7]

The long-toed lapwing measures 31 cm (12 in) in length with a body mass of 162–225 g (5.7–7.9 oz).^[5] It is a brown, black, and white lapwing with long red legs, long toes, and a red bill with a black tip. It has short wing spurs and rounded wings; in flight it shows extensive white in the wing feathers, as well as legs and feet extending beyond the end of the tail. It issexually monomorphic and has no seasonal variation in plumage.^[5] Juveniles have a browner breast than adults and buff tips to feathers. Juvenile primary feathers are retained after the post-juvenilemoult.^[7]

White-crowned lapwing is the only other lapwing with extensive white plumage in the wings, showing white on the primary and secondary flight feathers, but this pattern is distinct from long-toed lapwing which has black colouration on the primary flight feathers (and forV. c. crassirostris, black on the secondary feathers as well).^[7]

The long-toed lapwing is found across central and eastern Africa, fromSouth Sudan in the north toBotswana,Mozambique, and northeastSouth Africa in the south of its range, as well as outlying populations inChad and westernAngola.^[5] The long-toed lapwing prefers habitats of lakes, pools, marshes, floodplains, and swamps.^[5] It finds its food of aquatic invertebrates on floating vegetation. It uses pool edges in thedry season, and in thewet season can often be found in flooded rice fields and wet grasslands.^[5] Birds are sedentary as long as water remains. Nesting and foraging areas are generally the same.^[8] It has been recorded up to an elevation of 1,300 m (4,300 ft) inZambia.^[9] The long-toed lapwing has similar habitat preferences to theAfrican Jacana, both using floating weeds and fringing vegetation around water.^[10] This direct association often leads lapwings to show aggressive behaviour towards jacanas, primarily as swooping attacks towards a jacana without making direct contact; one study found jacanas were attacked by adult lapwings once every 12 minutes.^[11]

The long-toed lapwing is unusual among lapwings as it feeds with behaviour likejacanas, foraging for aquatic insects, larvae, beetles, ants, dragonflynymphs, and snails on the surface of floating aquatic vegetation, spreading out its weight through the support of its long toes. There has been documentation of some individuals using one foot to stir water, likely to bring prey to the water’s surface, similar to the behaviour ofblacksmith lapwing andspur-winged lapwing.^[12] It regularly forages alone; however, in the dry season birds may gather in family groups or larger groups of 10 to 20, with one record of a group of approximately 80 reported fromMalawi.^[13] Foraging lapwings may followspur-winged geese as the geese uproot dead vegetation and disturb aquatic invertebrates.^[5] Long-toed lapwings also attack non-predator bird species in their territories, such asAfrican jacana, blacksmith lapwing, andsquacco heron, all with which the lapwings share foraging habitat.^[11]

Long-toed lapwings aremonogamous breeders that aggressively defend small territories (mean territory area is 2,900 m² (0.29 ha) in Kenya^[14]) from neighbouring lapwings. Both sexes participate in the incubation of eggs in the nest, territory defence, and parental care of young. Chicks are fiercely defended by the parents from avian predators includingAfrican fish-eagles,harriers, andcoucals.^[15] Persistent alarm calls and swooping attacks are employed as intense anti-predator responses, as well as escape flights during which birds fly and hover over water.^[15] Long-toed lapwings respond to predators such as harriers but can identify other raptors which are not predators, such as vultures, and do not respond to them.^[15]

The nest can be made of plant material or mud, located on the ground near the edge of water or on floating vegetation. When placed near the water’s edge, the nest is a shallow scrape made of mud or plants. On floating vegetation, above water up to 1m deep, the nest is shaped like a cup and made from plants. Long-toed lapwings in swampy areas have also been known to use a platform of mosses and weeds.^[16]

Female long-toed lapwings lay 1–4 brown or olive-coloured eggs with dark markings and incubate them for 27–30 days.^[17] Chicks areprecocial, leaving the nest only a few hours after hatching, andfledge approximately two months after hatching. Young regularly stay with parents a further 1–2 months after fledging. Parental behaviour, such as vigilance and tending young, reduces the foraging time of adults during the breeding season.^[8]

Breeding happens all year throughout the long-toed lapwing’s range.^[5] In central Africa, egg laying occurs from December to March,^[5] while in eastern Africa from Uganda to northeast South Africa laying ranges from June to November.^[13]

Calls consist of repeated clicking with a metallic tone, described as “kick-k-k-k”, and a high-pitched “wheet” call when flushed.^[14] Long-toed lapwings are more vocal during the breeding season, and they call rapidly as they attack other birds in their territories.^[7]

Harriers,coucals, andAfrican fish-eagles are avian predators of long-toed lapwings.^[11]

Quill mites are obligatoryectoparasites which live and reproduce within the hollow quills of feathers, and a species associated with lapwings has been collected from long-toed lapwings in Tanzania.^[18] Quill mites feed on fluids of birds by piercing the skin from inside the feather quill, and usually live on a specific host species or genus of birds.^[19]

The long-toed lapwing is classified asLeast Concern on theIUCN Red List and is not globally threatened.^[20] Few population estimates have been made, however, except for the southern African population estimated between 25,000-50,000 individual birds.^[21] Human encroachment on aquatic areas, including with livestock, poses a threat to the habitat of long-toed lapwings.^[22]

• Long-toed lapwing -Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
• "Long-toed lapwing media".Internet Bird Collection.
• Long-toed lapwing photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
• Observations of long-toed lapwings oniNaturalist
• Audio recordings of long-toed lapwing onXeno-Canto
• BirdLife species factsheet forVanellus crassirostris
• "Vanellus crassirostris".Avibase.