Northern Lapwing

50 sec. / 148 kb / MP3

Well, actually this bird is never on the ground in our garden, but it flies over it very regularly. This could be the Dutch National Bird, because 70% of all European Northern Lapwings spend their summer in Holland. With its long feathers on the back of its head, its contrasting black and white colours and the easy to recognize call "Qi-Vit", hence the Dutch name, it is one of the messengers of spring, as it early flies back from Africa (sometimes in March). Already in April it is depositing it's eggs in grasslands. The Northern Lapwing is also a brave bird. It will attack any bird that is a potential enemy such as all members of the crow family. Yet, nature is very much like politics. Once my wife and I saw a few Lapwings attack some bird of prey, we couldn't exactly see what it was. When this was back high up in the air two Black Carrions appeared and took over from the Lapwings. They then attacked the poor bird of prey untill it was almost out of sight. That actually was an unexpected league, for crows will certainly eat the Lapwings eggs, given the chance. Lapwings are good and elegant flyers that are very acrobatic in the air.

The Northern Lapwing is easy to recognize: the tuft always gives it away, even from a great distance.

In the past in Holland there was a peculiar sport called 'finding the Lapwing's eggs'. It was especially practised in Frysia and other grassland provinces. The whole point was to be the first to find the first Lapwing's egg of the year. The very first egg of the country was then presented to the Queen of the Netherlands. Finder number two could present his egg to the Governor of the province, the rest were just local heroes who presented their egg to the burgomaster of his or her town. The tradition is now abandoned, except for certain areas. Now finding a Lapwing's egg is not easy at all. The bird doesn't make a real nest or something, it just deposits it's eggs in high grassland. That implies that certain risks have to be taken. In grassland there are real enemies, such as the Crows, but there are also creatures that are not feeding on the eggs, just treading the eggs to pieces: the horses, cows or farmers in the meadow. So the Lapwing developed a strategy that works on most dangers, enemies and duds alike. When someone is approaching the nest, one bird will remain on the nest, while the partner will land on the ground, far from the nest. This partner will then pretend to be hurt: he or she will run through the grass with one wing down and away from the nest of course. Then it will try to fly away and pretend that it can not. Now all creatures, enemies or duds, will immediately look at the wounded Lapwing and probably will follow the unsuccesful bird. But when they're very close the miracle happens: nothing is wrong with the bird and with some wingflapping it quickly flies away, shouting 'Qi-Vit'. Of course by then the bird has reached it goal: the potential danger is far away from the nest.

This bird belongs to the family of Plovers (Charadriidae). It is rare in our garden and can be seen in Holland march - september. The bird is 13" and weighs 200 grams. It lives in meadows and marshes mostly. It eats insects, worms and snails. Compared to the male, the female has a white throat. Nesting starts in march. The nest consists of a ditch in the ground, in which four eggs are deposited. The birds have to keep them warm until they hatch after some 28 days. The parents take care of their young for some six weeks!

Name of this bird in various other languages
Dutch	German	French	Polish	Scientific
Kievit	Kiebitz	Vanneau huppé	Czajka	Vanellus vanellus