The white-crowned lapwing, white-headed lapwing, white-headed plover or white-crowned plover is a medium-sized wader. It is resident throughout tropical Africa, usually near large rivers.
Region
Tropical Africa
Typical Environment
Occurs along major river systems and floodplains across sub-Saharan Africa, frequenting wide rivers with sandy or gravelly bars. It favors open shorelines, sparsely vegetated islets, and adjacent short-grass banks. Breeding typically happens on exposed sandbanks above normal water levels, though nests can be lost to floods. Outside breeding, it may use nearby wetlands, oxbow lakes, and seasonally inundated plains. It avoids dense marsh and heavily wooded shores.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the white-headed lapwing or white-headed plover, it is tightly tied to large rivers and their sandbars across tropical Africa. Adults defend nests fiercely, using loud alarm calls and striking with prominent carpal spurs on the wings. It often nests on exposed sandbanks, making it sensitive to sudden water-level changes and human disturbance.
Upper body showing facial wattles
Temperament
alert and territorial
Flight Pattern
strong flier with quick, shallow wingbeats; agile low over water
Social Behavior
Typically seen in pairs or small groups, forming looser flocks on river sandbars outside the breeding season. Monogamous pairs nest on bare sand or gravel in a shallow scrape. Adults vigorously defend nesting sites with distraction displays, dive-bombing, and use of the wing spurs. Chicks are precocial and leave the nest shortly after hatching.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Loud, ringing, metallic calls and sharp yelps that carry over open water, often given in alarm. Rapid, repeated notes escalate when intruders approach nests or chicks.
Plumage
Crisp, contrasting pattern with a bright white crown and forehead, brownish-olive upperparts, and white underparts divided by a bold black breast band. Wings show striking black-and-white panels in flight. The face carries yellow fleshy wattles at the bill base and a dark mask around the eye.
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects and other small invertebrates, including beetles, flies, ants, termites, and aquatic insect larvae. Also takes small crustaceans, mollusks, and occasionally tiny fish or tadpoles. Forages by picking from the surface of sandbars, shorelines, and very shallow water, sometimes chasing prey actively.
Preferred Environment
Open sandy or gravelly riverbars, exposed mudflats, and short-grass edges of large rivers. It often feeds at the water’s edge or in very shallow margins where prey is concentrated.
