#1083 · 🐦 birds

Masked Lapwing

🇳🇱 Maskerkievit ·Vanellus miles

LCleast concern 🐦 Birds 📍 in Europe, not in NL

8 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

what is it?

The masked lapwing ( Vanellus miles ), also known as the masked plover and often called the spur-winged plover or just plover in its native range, is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia, particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent, New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms and has several distinctive calls. There are two subspecies; the southern...

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 33,794iNaturalist observations
weight 258 gadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
33,794 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs only about 258 g.
Scientifically named by Pieter Boddaert in 1783 (243 years ago).