# Northern lapwing (*Vanellus vanellus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-lapwing  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), also called Peewit, Lapwing or Green plover, is a bird in the family Charadriidae of the order Charadriiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 218.4 g, ranging from 211 to 226 g, and a wingspan of 72.25 cm, ranging from 67 to 75 cm. The northern lapwing is a terrestrial, partially migratory omnivore of wetland habitat, with a geographic range of 18,590,000 km². It lays a clutch of 4 eggs once per year, incubates them for 25.7 days, reaches sexual maturity at 2 years and is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 211 g – 226 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 67 cm – 75 cm |
| Lifespan | 23.6 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 24.5 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | wetland |
| Egg incubation | 25.7 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4 |
| Age at maturity | 24 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Partial |
| Conservation status | Near Threatened (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Charadriiformes
- family: Charadriidae
- genus: Vanellus
- species: *Vanellus vanellus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Tringa vanellus*, *Vanellus bicornis*, *Vanellus crispus*, *Vanellus cristatus*, *Vanellus gavia*, *Vanellus linnéi*, *Vanellus vulgaris*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the northern lapwing?

The northern lapwing is a bird in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. It is placed in the size class small.

### How heavy is the northern lapwing?

An adult Northern lapwing has a body mass of 218.4 g, with reported values from 211 to 226 g.

### What does the northern lapwing eat?

The northern lapwing is in the omnivore diet category, and its trophic level is given as carnivore.

### Is the northern lapwing endangered?

No, it is listed as Near Threatened (NT) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.

### How long does the northern lapwing live?

The northern lapwing has a lifespan of 23.6 years, with values up to 24.5 years reported.

### How many eggs does the northern lapwing lay?

The northern lapwing lays 4 eggs per clutch and has 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 25.7 days.

### What habitat does the northern lapwing use?

The northern lapwing uses wetland habitat and has a terrestrial lifestyle. It is partially migratory.

### Who named the northern lapwing?

The scientific name Vanellus vanellus is attributed to (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Northern lapwing (Vanellus vanellus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-lapwing