BY: Bruce Munro
FORMERLY known as the crowned plover, the crowned lapwing is a common resident found throughout Southern Africa.
Its habitat is short, dry grassland, burnt veld, wooded savanna, parks and large sportsfields and lawns.
These lapwings are very noisy, especially when breeding. The voice is a strident ‘kreep’ and excited ‘kree – kree – kreeeip’ in flight.
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Gregarious birds, they are often found in flocks of up to four. They are rather wary, running in short bursts, stopping to peck at food with short jabs of their bills. They feed on insects and earthworms.
The crowned lapwing has a buoyant flight with deep wingbeats. Birds with young or hatching eggs attack intruders by dive-bombing their prey with noisy screams.
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They lay one to four dark yellow or olive brown eggs. The nest is a shallow scrape on the ground, lined with bits of soil, small stones and dry plants.
Incubation is 28 to 32 days and the young are cared for by both parents for three months.
The African name is Gixiya and in Afrikaans, kroonkiewiet.
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