Avefría Coliblanca

Identificación

The white-tailed lapwing or white-tailed plover (Vanellus leucurus) is a wader in the lapwing genus. The genus name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for a lapwing and derives from vannus, which refers to a winnowing fan. The specific leucurus is from Ancient Greek leukouros, "white-tailed". This medium-sized lapwing is long-legged and fairly long-billed. It is the only lapwing likely to be seen in other than very shallow water, where it picks insects and other small prey mainly from the surface. Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and foreneck, paler face and grey breast. Its long yellow legs, pure white tail and distinctive brown, white and black wings make this species unmistakable. Young birds have a scaly back, and may show some brown in the tail. The breeding season call is a peewit, similar to northern lapwing. It breeds semi-colonially on inland marshes in Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and southern Russia. Four eggs are laid in a ground nest. The Iraqi and Iranian breeders are mainly residents, but Russian birds migrate south in winter to the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and north east Africa. It is a very rare vagrant in western Europe, the first example in Britain being found at Packington, Warwickshire on 12 July 1975. In some parts of its distribution range the species faces threats related to habitat destruction and unintentional poaching. The white-tailed lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

Taxonomía

Género: Vanellus; familia: Charadriidae; orden: Charadriiformes.

Nombre científico

Vanellus leucurus

Autoridad

(Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)

Orden

Charadriiformes

Familia

Carádridos

Género

Vanellus

Distribución y hábitat

Breeding range: PAL : inland c Turkey and e Azerbaijan to n Caspian Sea, s Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and nw Afghanistan; s to n Jordan and Persian Gulf to sw Pakistan. Non-breeding range: to Eritrea, n Ethiopia, Sudan; Red Sea and Persian Gulf regions, e to nw, nc India.

Área de cría

PAL : inland c Turkey and e Azerbaijan to n Caspian Sea, s Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and nw Afghanistan; s to n Jordan and Persian Gulf to sw Pakistan

Área no reproductiva

to Eritrea, n Ethiopia, Sudan; Red Sea and Persian Gulf regions, e to nw, nc India

Migración

Migrantes completos

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Migrantes completos.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional

unknown