Vanellus spinosus (Spur-winged
lapwing, Spur-winged plover)
Spoorvlerkkiewiet [Afrikaans]; Sporenkievit [Dutch];
Vanneau à éperons [French]; Spornkiebitz [German]; Abibe-esporado [Portuguese]
Life
> Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta
> Metazoa (animals) >
Bilateria >
Deuterostomia > Chordata >
Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) > Gnathostomata (jawed
vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned
fish) > Stegocephalia (terrestrial
vertebrates) > Tetrapoda
(four-legged vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Reptilia (reptiles) >
Romeriida > Diapsida > Archosauromorpha > Archosauria >
Dinosauria
(dinosaurs) > Saurischia > Theropoda (bipedal predatory dinosaurs) >
Coelurosauria > Maniraptora > Aves
(birds) > Order: Charadriiformes
> Family: Charadriidae > Genus: Vanellus
Distribution and habitat
Occurs from south-east Europe and the Near East to
sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal to Ethiopia south to Tanzania, while it is a
rare vagrant to southern Africa. Here it has been recorded twice in
north-eastern Namibia (including the Caprivi Strip), mainly on dry open ground
and short grass areas adjacent to water, although it may also occupy ponds,
marshes and river flood plains.
Food
It mainly eats insects, supplemented with invertebrates,
small lizards and seeds, doing most of its foraging using the typical
foraging technique of plovers, running, stopping then searching for prey before
repeating the process.
References
-
Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts
- Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker
Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.
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