Grey-headed Lapwing

Vanellus cinereus

Family: Plovers and Lapwings · Status: Very rare migrant · Size: 34–37 cm · Conservation: Least Concern

Range

Breeds in northeastern and eastern China and Honshu, Japan. Winters south to the Indian Subcontinent and Indochina, with some birds reaching the Thai-Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.

Identification

Adult has brown upperparts, grey head, neck and upper breast with a blackish breast-band, black-tipped yellowish bill, white belly and yellow legs. Non-breeding adult has a browner head and neck with the breast-band partially obscured. Juvenile resembles adult but has a less defined or absent breast-band; head, neck and breast are browner, with buff-fringed upperparts. In flight, white secondaries and greater upperwing-coverts contrast with black primaries.

Habitat

Marshy areas, wet grasslands, and mudflats.