Northern Lapwing

Common Name	Northern LapwingBirdlife International
Species name	Vanellus vanellusBirdlife International
Family	Charadriidae
Genus
Local Name	Country Appearance Local name Brunei Darussalam     Cambodia     China     Indonesia     Japan Yes タゲリ Lao PDR     Malaysia     Mongolia     Myanmar     Philippines     Republic of Korea     Singapore     Thailand     Vietnam

 

Visual and Sound Image

Photos

Northern Lapwing

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Sounds

 

Identification

No descriptions

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Range Description

No descriptions

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Ecology

Ecology (Behaviour)

Most populations of this species are fully migratory6, 10 and travel on a broad front out of Europe10 although some breeding populations in more temperate regions are sedentary6. The species breeds from April to July7 in solitary pairs6 although pairs may also nest close together8, even semi-colonially25, in optimal habitat8. The species may roost communally at night during both the breeding and non-breeding seasons9 and after breeding the species gathers in large flocks for migration6, 7 and remains highly gregarious during the winter9, 10 in flocks of several thousand7.

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Habitat

<Breeding> The species shows a preference for breeding on wet natural grasslands25, meadows and hay meadows6 with short swards7, 23 and patches of bare soil8 at low altitudes7 (less than 1,000 m)10. It will also breed on grassy moors, swampy heaths6, 8, bogs8 and arable fields6.
<Non- breeding> During the winter the species utilises large open pastures for roosting6 and forages on damp grassland, irrigated land9, stubble and ploughed fields6, riverbanks, lake shores, fresh and saline marshes, drainage ditches, estuaries and mudflats (Africa)9.

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Diet

Its diet consists of adult and larval insects6 (e.g. beetles, ants, Diptera, crickets6, grasshoppers, dragonflies, mayflies, cicadas and Lepidoptera)9, spiders, snails6, earthworms6, 9, frogs, small fish (Africa)9 and seeds or other plant material (Africa)9.

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Breeding Site

The nest is a shallow scrape in short grass vegetation6.

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References

1. Wetlands International (2002). 2. BirdLife International (2004). 3. S. Chan in litt. (2005). 4. A. Mischenko in litt. (2005). 5. B. Trolliet per D. Stroud in litt. (2005). 6. del Hoyo et al. (1996). 7. Hayman et al. (1986). 8. Johnsgard (1981). 9. Urban et al. (1986). 10. Snow and Perrins (1998). 11. Balmaki and Barati (2006). 12. Grishanov (2006). 13. Hubalek et al. (2005). 14. Baines (1988). 14. Baldi et al. (2005). 16. Ausden et al. (2001). 17. Olsen and Schmidt (2004). 18. Robson and Allcorn (2006). 19. Milsom et al. (2002). 20. Squires and Allcorn (2006). 21. Isaksson et al. (2007). 22. Ausden et al. (2003). 23. Devereux et al. (2004). 24. Hart et al. (2002). 25. Trolliet (2003). 26. Jackson (2001).

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Status

International Status

IUCN Red List Category

LC

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
<Trend justification> The overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations have unknown trends (Wetlands International 2006). In Europe, trends since 1980 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline (p<0.01), based on provisional data for 21 countries from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (EBCC/RSPB/BirdLife/Statistics Netherlands; P. Vorisek in litt. 2008).

 

National Status

Country	Category	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Management

Threat

This species suffered past declines as a result of land-use intensification, wetland drainage and egg collecting6. Today it is threatened by reduced breeding productivity as a result of intensifying and changing agricultural practices6, especially the improvement of grasslands (e.g. by drainage, inorganic fertilising and reseeding)14. Important migratory stop-over habitats for this species on the Baltic Sea coastline are threatened by petroleum pollution, wetland drainage for irrigation, land abandonment and changing land management practices leading to scrub overgrowth12. Clutch destruction may also occur during spring cultivation (using machinery) on arable fields6. The species is susceptible to avian botulism so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the disease13, and may suffer from nest predation by introduced mammals (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europeaus) on some islands26. The species is hunted for commercial use (to be sold as food) and for recreational purposes in Iran11, and is hunted in France, Greece, Italy and Spain25.

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Information

Short swards are the most profitable foraging habitat for the species23 so the application of cattle-grazing17, preferably intensively (e.g. > 1 cow per hectare), may be successful in increasing abundances of the species on grasslands15. On coastal grazing saltmarsh however it may be desirable to exclude cattle from selected areas in the spring where the rate of grass growth is slow24. In the UK it has been found that a mosaic of unflooded grassland, winter-flooded grassland and shallow pools may provide optimal conditions for this species to breed16. It has also been found that shallow pools on coastal grazing marshes should be maintained until the end of June, as the aquatic invertebrates contained within them can be an important part of this species's diet22. Another UK study found that the species shows a preference for feeding in rills (relict saltmarsh drainage channels) in coastal grazing marshes, especially those with many branches19. It is possible to attract breeding pairs just by flooding rills during April and May to create water-margin habitats for feeding, rather than extensively flooding the land (i.e. marshes can therefore be managed to encourage lapwing breeding without preventing the grazing of cattle)19. At Lower Lough Erne in Northern Ireland the species showed a preference for nesting in the spring on open areas created by cutting rush beds in mid-winter18. It is also known to show increased hatching successes when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective cages or fences around individual nests or nesting areas21, 26. The number of breeding pairs on improved grassland was successfully increased on a reserve in Wales by the implementation of a two-year rotation of chisel ploughing, as well as a seasonal sheep and cattle grazing regime and a controlled increase in the water-level20.

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Current Conservation

No descriptions

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Legal Protection

Country	Status	Reference
Brunei Darussalam
Cambodia
China
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Lao PDR
Malaysia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam

 

Related Links

 

Range

Geographical Information

Migration Route

 

Asian Waterbird Census

Descriptions

The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) was initiated in 1987 and runs in parallel with other waterbird censuses carried out in Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia and Latin America under the umbrella of the International Waterbird Census (IWC), which is organised by Wetlands International.

The AWC takes place annually, during the second and third weeks of January, and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation.

Reference: Li, Z.W.D., Bloem, A., Delany S., Martakis G. and Quintero J. O. 2009. Status of Waterbirds in Asia - Results of the Asian Waterbird Census: 1987-2007. Wetlands International, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Census Data

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	2	3	3	2	4	4	0	4	4	4	4	5	5	0	0	0	9	0	0	1	0	9
CAMBODIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	11	0	0	12	12	11	5	1	6	9	6	6
CHINA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			18673	2957	8494	3358	3478	125	2	350	992			1900			2000	3888	8480	8334	217	444
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			4	3	17	13	14	4	1	1	3			1			1	10	32	36	6	7
The total number of count sites	0	1	34	12	50	60	67	29	6	14	6	15	21	20	14	10	22	45	80	81	59	72
INDONESIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	19	8	17	17	15	19	16	0	0	47	12	10	40	34	14	16	15	23
JAPAN	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual					40			21	790	244	411	255	479	358	803	871	1017	926	599	781	827	964
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)					2			1	9	10	10	10	8	11	34	32	39	32	25	26	31	27
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	53	39	52	47	20	50	40	47	37	41	37	107	112	103	109	97	159	142	137
LAO PDR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	2	4	5	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	14	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
MALAYSIA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	59	68	93	85	17	10	7	10	0	0	20	25	25	25	43	43	82	82	40
MYANMAR	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual										14					10	1	4	2	6	3
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)										1					2	1	2	1	2	1
The total number of count sites	0	5	3	12	17	15	21	20	13	12	2	4	2	0	7	32	47	73	24	31	32	19
PHILIPPINES	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	19	21	34	39	46	47	39	28	29	32	43	38	50	47	56	54	65	108
SINGAPORE	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	0	4	12	17	15	13	14	10	10	6	11	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	7
REPUBLIC OF KOREA	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual			1	53	28	6	4	18		12	7	12	5	138	192	98	113	84	159	159	179	163
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)			1	3	2	3	2	1		1	1	5	2	14	16	18	16	10	14	16	20	15
The total number of count sites	0	0	10	12	22	20	20	15	10	22	25	22	14	68	99	112	118	116	117	123	127	127
THAILAND	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual				10	3																1
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)				3	1																1
The total number of count sites	10	8	3	20	26	12	23	16	17	5	9	3	1	1	7	3	9	26	20	82	99	33
VIETNAM	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
The number of observed individual																	6
The number of observed sites(not all count sites)																	1
The total number of count sites	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	4	0	1	1	0	1	8	2	2	16	4	4	9	6	11

 

Population

Descriptions

 

Population Trend

 

Additional Information

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Climate change species distributions

 

Other Information

• Detailed species account from Birds in Europe: population estimates, trends and conservation status (BirdLife International 2004)