Sociable Lapwing

Vanellus gregarius (Pallas, 1771)

Sociable Lapwing, Vanellus gregarius, is a plover found breeding in inland Kazakhstan and adjacent southern Russia, with non-breeding birds ranging from Sudan and Eritrea through Israel and the Arabian Peninsula to central Pakistan and north-west India. It is a wader of steppes, arid grasslands and cultivated fields, and its range was once much wider, extending from Ukraine to Xinjiang in north-west China. The species is a lapwing in the family Charadriidae and was described by Pallas in 1771. It is also known in the UK as the sociable plover, and older accounts called it the black-bellied lapwing.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Charadriidae — Plovers

Breeding range

Palearctic: inland n Kazakhstan and adjacent s Russia (formerly Ukraine to Xinjiang [nw China])

Nonbreeding range

Sudan to Eritrea, Israel, Arabian Pen., c Pakistan and nw India