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| Spur-winged lapwing | |
|---|---|
_in_flight.jpg) | |
| Upper side of wings - note the spurs on the leading edge of the carpal joint | |
| Calls recorded atLake Turkana, Kenya | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Charadriidae |
| Genus: | Vanellus |
| Species: | V. spinosus |
| Binomial name | |
| Vanellus spinosus | |
| Synonyms | |
Charadrius spinosusLinnaeus,1758 | |
Thespur-winged lapwing orspur-winged plover (Vanellus spinosus) is alapwingspecies, one of a group of largishwaders in the familyCharadriidae.
The spur-winged lapwing wasformally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalistCarl Linnaeus in thetenth edition of hisSystema Naturae. He placed it with the plovers in thegenusCharadrius and coined thebinomial nameCharadrius spinosus. He specified thetype locality as Egypt.[2][3] The specific epithet is fromLatin meaning "thorny" (fromspina meaning "thorn").[4] Linnaeus based his account on a description by the Swedish naturalistFredrik Hasselquist that had been published in 1757.[5] The spur-winged lapwing is now one of 23 species placed in the genusVanellus that was introduced in 1760 by the French naturalistMathurin Jacques Brisson. The species ismonotypic: nosubspecies are recognised.[6]
These are conspicuous and unmistakablebirds. They are medium-large waders with black crown, chest, foreneck stripe and tail. The face, the rest of the neck and belly are white and the wings and back are light brown. The bill and legs are black. Its striking appearance is supplemented by its noisy nature, with a louddid-he-do-it call. The bird's common name refers to a smallclaw or spur hidden in each of its wings.
The spur-winged lapwing breeds around the easternMediterranean, and in a wide band from sub-Saharan westAfrica toArabia. TheGreek andTurkish breeders aremigratory, but other populations are resident. The species is declining in its northern range, but is abundant in much of tropical Africa, being seen at almost any wetland habitat in its range. The spur-winged lapwing is one of the species to which theAgreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.[citation needed]
In eastern and southern Africa the species has seen a range increase, enteringZambia for the first time in 1999 and spreading south and west.[7]
This species has a preference for marshes and similar freshwater wetland habitats. The food of the spur-winged lapwing isinsects and other invertebrates, which are picked from the ground.
It lays four blotchy yellowish eggs on a ground scrape. The spur-winged lapwing is known to sometimes use the wing-claws in an attack on animals and, rarely, people, who get too close to the birds' exposed offspring.
The "spur-winged plover" was identified byHenry Scherren as the "trochilus" bird said by the Greek historianHerodotus[8] to be involved in what would now be called acleaning symbiosis with theNile crocodile.[9] However, there is no reliable evidence that this or any other species in fact has such a relationship,[10] although Cott does record that spur-winged plovers are the birds that most often feed around basking crocodiles, and are tolerated by them.[11]
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Mr. J.M. Cook, of the celebrated tourist agency, when in Egypt in 1876, "watched one of these birds, and saw it deliberately go up to a crocodile, apparently asleep, which opened its jaws. The bird hopped in, and the crocodile closed its jaws. In what appeared to be a very short time, probably not more than a minute or two, the crocodile opened its jaws, and we saw the bird go down to the water's edge." There were several of these birds about, and Mr. Cook shot two of them, which Dr. Sclater identified as Spur-winged Plovers; so that the question as to what bird enters the mouth of the crocodile is now set at rest.
