Red-wattled lapwing
Vanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783)
The red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus), also called the Red-wattled plover, is a bird in the family Charadriidae of the order Charadriiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 181 g and a wingspan of 68.3 cm.
Quick facts about the red-wattled lapwing
This sedentary, terrestrial invertivore lives in wetland habitat and has a geographic range of 7,326,000 km². Its clutch holds 4 eggs, incubated for 26 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 170 g – 181 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 68.3 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the red-wattled lapwing?
Photos of the red-wattled lapwing
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Where does the red-wattled lapwing live?
Not recorded
What is the red-wattled lapwing?
The red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus) is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicators of human or animal movements and the sounds have been variously rendered as did he do it or pity to do it leading to the colloquial name of did-he-do-it bird. Usually seen in pairs or small groups not far from water, they sometimes form large aggregations in the non-breeding season (winter). They nest in a ground scrape laying three to four camouflaged eggs. Adults near the nest fly around, diving at potential predators while calling noisily. The cryptically patterned chicks hatch and immediately follow their parents to feed, hiding by lying low on the ground or in the grass when threatened.
From the Wikipedia article “Red-wattled lapwing” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-wattled_lapwing&oldid=1381132758), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the red-wattled lapwing sound like?
Is the red-wattled lapwing endangered?
The red-wattled lapwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the red-wattled lapwing classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyCharadriidae
- genusVanellus
- SpeciesVanellus indicus (Boddaert, 1783)
Synonyms Hoplopterus indicus, Hoplopterus indicus indicus, Lobivanellus goensis, Lobivanellus indicus, Parra goensis, Sarcogrammus indicus
Other names and names in other languages (75)
- Red-wattled ploverEnglish
- Red-wattled ploverEnglish
- زقزاق هنديArabic
- الزقزاق الهنديArabic
- قطقاط أحمر اللغدArabic
- قطقاط احمر اللغدEgyptian Arabic
- বালিঘোৰাAssamese
- Hindistan bəzəklicəsiAzerbaijani
- وانللوس یندیکوسazb
- Индийска калугерицаBulgarian
- হটটিটিBangla
- Kernigell IndiaBreton
- Kornigell IndiaBreton
- Juia de Màscara VermellaCatalan
- fredeluga de màscara rojaCatalan
- čejka černoprsáCzech
- cornchwiglen dagellgochWelsh
- Indisk VibeDanish
- RotlappenkiebitzGerman
- Ruĝbeka vaneloEsperanto
- ruĝkarunkla vaneloEsperanto
- Avefría indiaSpanish
- sagarkiivitajaEstonian
- دیدومکPersian
- kenttähyyppäFinnish
- Vanneau indienFrench
- Pilibín IndiachIrish
- Feadóg dheargsprochallachIrish
- ટીટોડીGujarati
- קיווית אדומת-משקפייםHebrew
- टिट्टिभHindi
- vivak naočarCroatian
- bibircses bíbicHungarian
- Զարդարված կիվիվArmenian
- Trulek gelambir-merahIndonesian
- HnúðvepjaIcelandic
- Pavoncella indianaItalian
- Pavoncella indiana dalle caruncole rosseItalian
- インドトサカゲリJapanese
- ಕೆಂಪು ಟಿಟ್ಟಿಭKannada
- Nikilsora beravîKurdish
- indinė pempėLithuanian
- Indijas ķīvīteLatvian
- ചെങ്കണ്ണി തിത്തിരിMalayalam
- တေဝ်တောတ်၊ ဂစေံmnw
- टिटवीMarathi
- ताम्रमुखी टिटवीMarathi
- Burung Rapang DuitMalay
- တစ်တီတူးBurmese
- हुटिट्याउँNepali
- Indische KievitDutch
- brillevipeNorwegian
- ନାଲି ଟେଣ୍ଟେଇOdia
- czajka indyjskaPolish
- Abibe do ÍndicoPortuguese
- abibe-do-índicoPortuguese
- Украшенный чибисRussian
- ČalbmelássaláfolNorthern Sami
- cíbik laločnatýSlovak
- indijska pribaSlovenian
- ٽيٽيهرSindhi
- Crvenoliki vivakSerbian
- Црвенолики вивакSerbian
- rödflikvipaSwedish
- சிவப்பு மூக்கு ஆள்காட்டிTamil
- ಇಟ್ಟಿರಿTulu
- นกต้อยตีวิดThai
- นกกระแตแต้แว้ดThai
- Büyük KızkuşuTurkish
- Kızıl ibikli kız kuşuTurkish
- чайка індійськаUkrainian
- Te vặtVietnamese
- 紅垂麥雞Chinese
- 肉垂麥雞Chinese
- 肉垂麦鸡Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red-wattled lapwing
Other species in the same genus Vanellus.
Northern lapwing
Vanellus vanellus
Sociable lapwing
Vanellus gregarius
White-tailed lapwing
Vanellus leucurus
Grey-headed lapwing
Vanellus cinereus
Spur-winged lapwing
Vanellus spinosus
Southern lapwing
Vanellus chilensis
CompareRed-wattled lapwing vs Northern lapwingRed-wattled lapwing vs Sociable lapwingRed-wattled lapwing vs White-tailed lapwingRed-wattled lapwing vs Grey-headed lapwing
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the red-wattled lapwing?
The red-wattled lapwing is a bird in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. It is also called the Red-wattled plover.
How heavy is the red-wattled lapwing?
The red-wattled lapwing has an adult body mass of 181 g, which places it in the small size class. Its wingspan is 68.3 cm.
What does the red-wattled lapwing eat?
The red-wattled lapwing is an invertivore, with a trophic level of carnivore.
What habitat does the red-wattled lapwing live in?
The red-wattled lapwing lives in wetland habitat, where it has a terrestrial lifestyle. It is sedentary.
Is the red-wattled lapwing endangered?
No. The red-wattled lapwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How many eggs does the red-wattled lapwing lay?
The red-wattled lapwing lays 4 eggs per clutch, with 1.5 clutches per year. The eggs are incubated for 26 days.
Who named the red-wattled lapwing?
The red-wattled lapwing, Vanellus indicus, was named by Boddaert in 1783, written as (Boddaert, 1783).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · 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 · 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 · 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 · 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 · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · 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).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-wattled-lapwing
“Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-wattled-lapwing.
@misc{red_wattled_lapwing_2026,
title = {Red-wattled lapwing (Vanellus indicus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-wattled-lapwing},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}