Grey-headed Lapwing

Vanellus cinereus (Blyth, 1842)

34–37 cmLength76 cmWingspan270 gWeight

It has a gray head and neck and a dark gray breast-band, with conspicuous black, white and rufous in flight.

Busiest months: December–April · Most records: China, India, Thailand

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Gray head and neck
Dark gray breast-band and white belly
Rufous back and white rump
Black primaries and white underwing in flight

Male, female and young

Sexes have similar plumage, with the male slightly larger; juveniles have gray-tinged white areas and an indistinct breast-band.

Voice

A sharp “chee-it”.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: December–April · Most records: China, India, Thailand

Grey-headed Lapwing has been recorded at 845 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 19 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Kaziranga NP & Surroundings – Eastern RangeIndia603 records
Lat Krabang – Thap Yao paddies & aquaculture pondsThailand431 records
Baruipur MarshesIndia430 records

More places

Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)413 records
Kaziranga NP & Surroundings – Western RangeIndia412 records
Chilika Lake – MangalajodiIndia390 records
Kaziranga NP & SurroundingsIndia279 records
Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)277 records
Nong Bong Khai Non-hunting Area – headquarters vicinityThailand254 records
Gajoldoba Barrage JGIndia246 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China India Thailand Nepal Bangladesh Japan Malaysia Cambodia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The grey-headed lapwing (Vanellus cinereus) is a lapwing species which breeds in northeast China and Japan. The mainland population winters in northern Southeast Asia from northeastern India to Cambodia. The Japanese population winters, at least partially, in southern Honshū.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Grey-headed Lapwing?

The Grey-headed Lapwing is about 34–37 cm long, with a wingspan of 76 cm and weighs around 270 g.

Where does the Grey-headed Lapwing live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: inland Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia (north-central, northeastern China), Honshu to Kyushu (central, southern Japan). It is most often recorded in China, India and Thailand.