The lapwing, in common with many charismatic birds, has picked up plenty of English folk names over the years.
Some, such as peewit and pyewipe, allude to the evocative calls that the lapwing utters in flight, especially in spring when the male is displaying over his territory.
Other names reference the species’ plumage, while lapwing itself describes the bird’s unique, floppy winged style of flying.
Once, every parish, more or less, would have had these worm-eating wading birds wintering in the fields. But since the 1960s, widespread changes in farming have led to the loss of more than half the British lapwing population. Now, any day with lapwings in it is a red-letter day.
Lapwings like soggy pasture and recently ploughed land, and often gather around the muddy margins of pools on wetland nature reserves.
Seeing a large flock of them against a January sky, their wings seemingly too broad for their bodies, is a treasure to behold.
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Top image: lapwing at a lake in Sandwich, Kent, UK. Credit: Getty
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