Southern Lapwing

The Southern Lapwing is a large, striking plover with a grayish-brown back, a black crown and face patch, and a bold black "bib" across the throat and upper breast that contrasts with white underparts. A small backward-pointing crest sits atop the head, and the legs and bare eye-ring are bright pinkish-red. In flight it reveals a bronze-green iridescent patch on the upperwing.

One of the most familiar and conspicuous birds across much of South America, it is common in open country, from pastures and wetlands to city parks and airport grounds, and its loud, persistent alarm calls have earned it local names like "tero" in imitation of its call.

The species has expanded its range northward into Central America in recent decades, likely aided by deforestation creating suitable open habitat.

Key field marks

• Black crown, face patch, and bib contrasting with gray-brown back and white underparts
• Small, thin, backward-curving crest
• Bright pinkish-red legs and red eye-ring
• Bronze-green iridescent patch on the upperwing, visible in flight
• Black-tipped, red-based bill

Similar species

• Masked Lapwing of Australia has yellow facial wattles instead of a red eye-ring and different plumage pattern; ranges do not overlap.
• No other South American shorebird shares its combination of crest, black bib, and red legs.

Southern Lapwings inhabit open grasslands, pastures, marshes, riverbanks, and increasingly urban parks and agricultural fields across most of South America, from the tropical lowlands to the southern cone. In recent decades the species has expanded its range into Panama and parts of Central America.

Most populations are largely resident, though some southern populations move northward outside the breeding season in response to weather.

Voice

A loud, harsh, repeated tero-tero-tero or similar rattling scream, given persistently in alarm, which has given the bird its widely used local name "tero."

Feeding

Forages by walking and running across open ground, using a run-stop-peck technique to catch insects and other invertebrates from grass and soil.

Nesting

Nests in a shallow scrape on open ground, often in surprisingly exposed or human-altered locations such as fields, road verges, or airport grounds. Extremely aggressive in nest defense, it mobs and dive-bombs intruders, including much larger animals and humans, while calling loudly.