Bird Guide

Grey-headed Lapwing vs River Lapwing

Grey-headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus)

Grey-headed Lapwing

Vanellus cinereus

Medium270 gWetland

The grey-headed lapwing is 34–37 cm long. It has a grey head and neck, darker grey breast band and white belly. The back is brown, the rump is white and the tail is black. This is a striking species in flight, with black primaries, white under wings and upper wing secondaries, and brown upper wing coverts. Adults of both sexes are similarly plumaged, but males are slightly larger than females. Young birds have the white areas of plumage tinged with grey, a less distinct breast band, and pale fringes to the upperpart and wing covert feathers.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Mike Prince from Bangalore, India · CC BY 2.0
River Lapwing (Vanellus duvaucelii)

River Lapwing

Vanellus duvaucelii

Medium143 gRiverine

The river lapwing is 29–32 cm long. It has a black crest, crown, face and central throat and grey-white neck sides and nape. It has a grey-brown breast band and white underparts with a black belly patch. The back is brown, the rump is white and the tail is black. This is a striking species in flight, with black primaries, white under wings and upper wing secondaries, and brown upper wing coverts. Adults of both sexes are similarly plumaged, but males are slightly larger than females.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Rejoice Gassah · CC BY 4.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Grey-headed Lapwing and River Lapwing.