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Northern Lapwing

Vanellus vanellus

Northern Lapwing
📷Andreas Trepte — Own work (Wikimedia Commons) · CC-BY-SA-2.5

Viben er en vadefugl, der yngler i Europa og Asien. I Danmark findes den på strandenge eller græsarealer med kreaturer, f.eks.

Field marks

Pigeon-sized pied with a green-glossed back and a long, thin crest. The breeding male shows a black crown, throat and breast against a white face. Very broad, rounded wings in flight.

Plumage and variation

Male and female: Females and young show a shorter crest and a less crisp head pattern.

Voice

A loud, shrill "pee-wit" — the classic call over the meadow; a wheezy creaking phrase in display flight.

Behaviour

The male’s spring display is a wild, tumbling, throwing flight low over the meadow. Defends nest and young furiously against crows and predators; outside breeding in big flocks on arable land and mudflats.

When and where

Breeds on meadows and damp fields, especially towards the Wadden Sea; back by mid-February from south-west Europe. Once abundant, but much declined through the 1900s with cultivation and drainage — now red-listed vulnerable.

Facts

Wingspan

70–75 cm

Conservation status

næsten truet

Relatives

Family

plovers

Charadriidae

Order

waders, gulls and auks

Charadriiformes

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