The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover is a lapwing species, one of a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae.
Region
Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Mediterranean
Typical Environment
Occurs widely across sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Valley, the Red Sea region, and east to the Levant and parts of southeastern Europe. It favors freshwater and brackish wetlands, including marshes, river edges, lakeshores, floodplains, fish ponds, rice fields, and irrigated farmland. It also uses coastal lagoons and mudflats and adapts well to human-altered landscapes with shallow water. Nesting is on open ground near water, often on gravelly or bare substrates. Outside the breeding season it ranges more broadly across open wet fields and shorelines.
Altitude Range
0–2000 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Named for the small, sharp spur at the bend of the wing, which it uses in aggressive displays and defense. It has expanded its range in parts of the Mediterranean, benefiting from irrigation, fishponds, and other human-made wetlands. Bold and noisy, it often nests near human activity and vigorously mobs intruders to protect its chicks.
Temperament
bold, noisy, and territorial
Flight Pattern
strong flier with steady wingbeats and brief glides; conspicuous flashing of white wingbar
Social Behavior
Typically breeds in pairs or loose colonies on open ground near water. Both sexes incubate a clutch of well-camouflaged eggs and aggressively mob predators. Chicks are precocial and leave the nest shortly after hatching, following parents to nearby damp ground to feed.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Vocal and persistent, giving sharp, ringing, and yapping calls often rendered as kik-ki-ki or krrr-krrr. Alarm calls are loud and repeated when intruders approach nests or chicks.
Plumage
Sandy-brown upperparts with a striking black crown, nape, throat, and breast, contrasting with white cheeks and a white neck-collar. Underparts are mostly white; wings show bold black-and-white with a prominent white wingbar in flight. The species bears a small, hard spur at the carpal (wing) joint.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects and other small invertebrates, including beetles, ants, flies, grasshoppers, worms, mollusks, and small crustaceans. It occasionally takes seeds or small plant matter but remains primarily animal-based in diet. Forages by walking and picking prey from the surface or probing soft mud. It often exploits freshly ploughed fields and shorelines where invertebrates are exposed.
Preferred Environment
Shallow margins of lakes, ponds, marshes, and slow rivers, as well as fish farms, rice paddies, and irrigated fields. Frequently uses damp pastures and muddy flats with sparse vegetation, and may feed around livestock.
