African Wattled Lapwing

Open encyclopedia reference

The African wattled lapwing (Vanellus senegallus), also known as the Senegal wattled plover or simply wattled lapwing, is a large lapwing, a group of largish waders in the family Charadriidae. It is a resident breeder in most of sub-Saharan Africa outside the rainforests, although it has seasonal movements.

These are conspicuous and unmistakable birds. They are large brown waders with a black crown, white forehead and large yellow facial wattles. The tail is white, tipped black, and the long legs are yellow.

In flight, the upperwings have black flight feathers and brown coverts separated by a white bar. The underwings are white with black flight feathers. The African wattled lapwing has a loud peep-peep call.

This species is a common breeder in wet lowland habitats, especially damp grassland. It often feeds in drier habitats, such as golf courses, picking insects and other invertebrates from the ground. It lays three or four eggs on a ground scrape.

The African wattled lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Wikipedia contributors, African wattled lapwing; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:14:07.239582+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Vanellus senegallus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1766)

Common name

African Wattled Lapwing

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Charadriidae

Genus

Vanellus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderCharadriiformes
10. familyCharadriidae Leach, 1820
11. genusVanellus Brisson, 1760
12. speciesVanellus senegallus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Vanellus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 48 records assigned to Charadriidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176498 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:7FFJQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.