CreatureData

Spot-breasted lapwing

Vanellus melanocephalus (Rüppell, 1845)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus) is a species in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 213.5 g to 214 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus)
Photo: KrisMaes · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the spot-breasted lapwing

Weight
214 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the spot-breasted lapwing live?

Not recorded

What is the spot-breasted lapwing?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus), also known as the spot-breasted plover, is a species of bird in the family Charadriidae. It is endemic to the Ethiopian Highlands. There are no known subspecies of the bird.

The bird is a chunky lapwing of the Ethiopian highlands. It has a black cap, white eyebrow, black throat, and coarse spots across the breast. Found in both wet and dry montane habitats, including grassland, moorland, and marsh. It is a non-migratory bird that occurs over 247,000 square kilometers.

The spot-breasted lapwing is not migratory, but does move locally north during the rainy season. The species largely occurs in grasses, marshes, and meadows. Very little information is known about its nesting habits.

Due to climate change, and the acute vulnerability caused by being a confined endemic species, habitat loss is expected to be 86.6 percent or more by 2070.

From the Wikipedia article “Spot-breasted lapwing” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spot-breasted_lapwing&oldid=1372410009), 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.

Is the spot-breasted lapwing endangered?

The spot-breasted lapwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the spot-breasted lapwing classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyCharadriidae
  6. genusVanellus
  7. SpeciesVanellus melanocephalus (Rüppell, 1845)

Synonyms Hoplopterus melanocephalus, Lobivanellus melanocephalus, Tylibix melanocephalus, Tylibyx melanocephalus

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • SBLAEnglish
  • Spot-breasted ploverEnglish
  • أبو طيط منقط الصدرArabic
  • Kornigell AbisiniaBreton
  • fredeluga d'EtiòpiaCatalan
  • čejka etiopskáCzech
  • cornchwiglen fronfraithWelsh
  • Etiopisk VibeDanish
  • StrichelbrustkiebitzGerman
  • makulbrusta vaneloEsperanto
  • Avefría pechipintaSpanish
  • etioopia kiivitajaEstonian
  • خروسکلی سینهخالدارPersian
  • etiopianhyyppäFinnish
  • Vanneau d'AbyssinieFrench
  • Vanneau d’AbyssinieFrench
  • pjegavoprsi vivakCroatian
  • abesszin bíbicHungarian
  • Pavoncella pettomacchiatoItalian
  • ムナフタゲリJapanese
  • dėmėtakrūtė pempėLithuanian
  • Ethiopische KievitDutch
  • flekkvipeNorwegian
  • czajka czarnogłowaPolish
  • abibe-etíopePortuguese
  • abibe-de-peito-pintadoPortuguese
  • Пестрогрудый чибисRussian
  • cíbik škvrnitoprsýSlovak
  • Etiopski vivakSerbian
  • etiopienvipaSwedish
  • etiopisk vipaSwedish
  • Benekli KızkuşuTurkish
  • чайка чорноголоваUkrainian
  • 斑胸麦鸡Chinese
  • 點胸麥雞Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the spot-breasted lapwing

Other species in the same genus Vanellus.

CompareSpot-breasted lapwing vs Northern lapwingSpot-breasted lapwing vs Red-wattled lapwingSpot-breasted lapwing vs Sociable lapwingSpot-breasted lapwing vs White-tailed lapwing

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the spot-breasted lapwing?

An adult spot-breasted lapwing weighs 214 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the spot-breasted lapwing endangered?

The spot-breasted lapwing is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the spot-breasted lapwing?

The spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus) belongs to the family Charadriidae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/spot-breasted-lapwing

MLA

“Spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/spot-breasted-lapwing.

BibTeX
@misc{spot_breasted_lapwing_2026,
  title = {Spot-breasted lapwing (Vanellus melanocephalus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/spot-breasted-lapwing},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}