Alternative name: Spot-breasted Plover
- Vanellus melanocephalus
Identification
34 cm (13½ in)
- Black crown, chin and throat
- White supercilium
- Yellow wattles
- Ashy brown upperparts, brown wings
- Distinctly black spotted breast
- White belly
Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.
Similar species
In flight separated from Spur-winged Plover, African Wattled Lapwing and Black-winged Lapwing by narrower black tail band.
Distribution
Endemic to the highlands of Ethiopia.
A locally common restricted-range species.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It was formerly placed in the genus Hoplopterus, Lobivanellus or Tylibyx.
Habitat
Found in moorland and damp grassland, also in marshes and along streams. Often near cattle on pastures.
Occurs between 1800 and 4100 m.
Behaviour
Diet
No details known.
Forages by running quickly, then pausing and surveying the ground, often forages in cattle pastures.
Breeding
Breeds in August in Shewa district, in April in Bale Mountains. One described nest was a shallow scrape in a patch of moss and grass. It was situated on a tiny rocky island in a pool and contained 4 eggs.
Movements
A sedentary species, probably with some local movements. Often in groups of 30 to 40 birds outside breeding season.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Spot-breasted Lapwing. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spot-breasted_Lapwing
