SANParks.org Forums

Thanks everyone for your contributions.

Please post any photos which you may have here in this topic. Also record your sighting dates and locations of the bird here.

Hell but this is interesting!

Wow - I had a lovely discussion with a lady I met in the bird hide at Lake Panic at around 13h30 on the 1st October - I could not conclusively decide what this bird was .... and felt quite dumbstruck








Looking forward to the experts assisting all of us with this one

The current thinking on the identification of this Lapwing from the coordinator of the SA Rare Bird Panel and those he's discussed it with is as follows:

"Lastly, although not a rarity, it is still particularly interesting. A rather bizarre lapwing was recorded at the low water bridge over the Sabie River just outside Skukuza in the Kruger National Park on Tuesday. It does not fit any known Vanellus Lapwing and current thinking is that it is possibly either a BLACKSMITH X WHITE-CROWNED LAPWING hybrid or a bizarrely aberrant WHITE-CROWNED LAPWING. Have a look at some submitted photos below and see for yourself…"


Strange Lapwing near Skukuza
© Graeme Ellis

Strange Lapwing near Skukuza
© Graeme Ellis

WOW I'm glad I found this thread. I saw a white lapwing @ Lake Panic on the 4 September this year but I couldn't believe it. Thought I was going a little crazy! Unfortunatly to far a way to photograph.

We were lucky enough to visit KNP from 3-5 December. Having read this thread before that - I specifically kept an eye open for this interesting Lapwing at Lake Panic. But it seemed he/she was not around anymore.

On 4 December, we headed North towards Tshokwane - and sure enough - spotted this Lapwing at Leeupan! Pretty sure it has to be either exactly the same one (most likely) or another of it's kind.



I snapped away - to bring some more pics of this lapwing to this thread - hope this will help...







The only other Lapwing we spotted in the area was a Blacksmith Lapwing. They were not together all the time though.

It seems he/she's moved on quite a bit...

I saw the lapwing at the Sabie low level bridge near Skukuza on 27 Jan 2011 at about 15:30. It was by itself although there was a group of Blacksmith Lapwings nearby. It seemed bigger than the BL. General giss reminded me of a Whitecrowned Lapwing.





I was trying to get a wing and tail view, but this was as much as I got.


Fascinating indeed.

I would have to go with a leucistic Blacksmith Lapwing. The dark orange-red eye indicates Blacksmith genes with pale upperwing coverts of the African Wattled Lapwing or maybe White-crowned Lapwing. But why no wattles or large spurs seen on photos? Are the Blacksmith genetics stronger in order to eliminate possible wattles?

Attention, attention!! After consulting the large Roberts and looking under Spur-winged Lapwing, what are the chances this is a leucistic Spur-winged Vanellus spinosus? The Spur-winged Lapwing matches the posture, upperwing covert colours, eye colour as well as the area where the black starts on the belly of all these photos submitted. The submitted photos also show black on the forehead, in front of the crown, the Spur-winged Lapwing is the only species that has black colouration on the whole crown and forehead?? Come on I believe this is a long shot, but consider!

Just looking at these pics.

is this not two different birds?
Bushbuddies - closer to blacksmithx?? or else Leucistic ??

Wildwings bird could be a Leucistic Spur Winged Plover

Maybe this is just complicating things now, not sure?

The plumage of the birds photographed by bushbuddies do look different (not considering colour) from wildwings, but CAN such changes (especially black on crown and belly) take place from juv. to adult in just over a month (Dec. to Jan.)?

Saw the lapwing again on 9 Feb at 15:15 at the low level bridge. This time it was among the Blacksmith lapwings. Seeing them among the BLs made me realise the size-difference is not as distinct as I initially thought. One BL acted slightly hostile to it as it chased it briefly, after which the lapwing moved away to one side. I went back there again a couple of days later in the mornings, but didn't see it again.

This thread has run dry a bit, but just to let you know I saw the lapwing again on 13 December 2011 at Lake Panic.

I saw the same bird at Lake Panic on 9th December 2011. I have attached a link to a photo here which shows what appear to be yellow wattles at the corner of the eyes. My trusty guide thinks it may be a leucistic blacksmith as it was amongst them, but there still appears to be no concensus.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72149693@N02/6515772633/

This bird has caused lots of discussion over the last year or more and there have been loads of suggestions as to its identity. It has been suggested as an aberrant Spur-winged or Long-toed Lapwing, both extremely rare species in this area. There have been suggestions that it is a partially leucistic Blacksmith or White-crowned Lapwing, but these also don't tie up exactly. And then there is the suggestion that it is a Blacksmith x White-crowned Lapwing which is also slightly aberrant. The latter ID is a suggestion that I first put forward about a year ago and, based on all the current evidence I have seen, I am still sticking to that at the moment...

This bird shows fully black primaries and secondaries, a feature which would certainly support Blacksmith Lapwing involved in the parentage. The bird also shows white lesser and median upperwing coverts with mostly black greater upperwing coverts with what appears to be a white trailing edge. That upperwing pattern does not match any local species of Lapwing. Yes, this is an aberrant bird, but a semi-leucistic or semi-albino species would still show the correct pattern on the wing, even if some of the feathers were white. Spur-winged Lapwings have brown upperwing coverts (no black in them at all) and Long-toed Lapwing have white upperwing coverts (also with no black in them), so where does the black come from. The only species that shows some black in the upperwing coverts is White-crowned, hence the suggestion that this may be a hybrid Blacksmith x White-crowned.

I have not heard any recording of this bird’s call, so can’t really comment on that. There is a photo which shows the bird in question alongside Blacksmith Lapwings and it seems pretty much the same size. Spur-winged is a slightly smaller bird and, although it may be difficult to ascertain this when the bird is on its own, next to Blacksmiths it should be noticeable.

I just think we need to look at this realistically – we have an aberrant bird whose plumage does not seem to match any particular species at all. Two very rare contenders are being suggested, both of them semi-albino or semi-leucistic, and both of them EXTREMELY rare in the country. What plumage features and bare part colouration is visible does not match either of these two species spot on. The other 2 contenders being suggested are common in the area. And, although this is an aberrant bird, the plumage features and bare part colouration again do not match either of these two species exactly. The third suggestion is of a hybrid between 2 species which commonly occur in the area and could possibly explain some of the plumage anomalies visible in the photo. I’m afraid that, for now, I am going to take the conservative route on this one and go with the latter, but I would love to be proven wrong...!

Enjoy the continuing puzzle...! That's what makes bird ID such fun...

Thanks Trevor. It appeared that what you have suggested was correct. I found two adult lapwings (blacksmith and whitecrowned) with 2 hybrid chicks on the H4-1, 1km east of Nkuhlu on 14/3/2012. There are slight variations in the chicks but they are similar to some of the specimens seen before.











Simon Vegter