looduskalender.ee

Nearly everywhere in Estonia bird watchers have met lapwings, and no wonder, the temperature is on the plus side, and winds, from the south, are favourable for migrants. Lapwings don’t have a long journey to make, mostly only from middle and western Europe. The earliest arrivals often perish, or are so badly stressed that they don’t nest, but the same story still repeats every year.

 

Lapwings are noticeable and easy to recognise with their showy looks and behaviour. The crest of the male is longer and more splendid than that of the female. In flight the rounded black-and-white wings show. Cheeks are white, there is a broad black band with metallic sheen on the breast, and the wing coverts have a green gloss. There is no ban on beauty!