View source for Sociable lapwing

{{Taxobox
| status = CR
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref>{{IUCN|id=22694053 |title=''Vanellus gregarius'' |assessor=BirdLife International |assessor-link=BirdLife International |version=2013.2 |year=2013 |accessdate=26 November 2013}}</ref>
| image = SociablePlover.jpg
| image_caption = Sociable lapwing, Little Rann of Kutch, India
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Charadriiformes]]
| familia = [[Charadriidae]]
| genus = ''[[Vanellus]]''
| species = '''''V. gregarius'''''
| binomial = ''Vanellus gregarius''
| binomial_authority = ([[Peter Simon Pallas|Pallas]], 1771)
| synonyms = ''Chaetusia gregaria'' <small>(unjustified emendation)</small><br />
''Charadrius gregarius'' <small>Pallas, 1771</small><br />
''Cheltusia gregaria'' <small>(unjustified emendation)</small><br />
''Chettusia gregaria'' <small>(Pallas, 1771)</small><br />
''Chetusia gregaria'' <small>(unjustified emendation)</small><br />
''Choetusia gregaria'' <small>(unjustified emendation)</small>
}}

The '''sociable lapwing''' or '''sociable plover''' (''Vanellus gregarius'') is a critically endangered [[wader]] in the [[lapwing]] family of [[bird]]s. The genus name is [[Medieval Latin]] for a [[northern lapwing|lapwing]] and derives from ''vannus'' a [[Winnowing#In Greek culture|winnowing fan]]. The specific ''gregarius'' is [[Latin]] for "sociable" from ''grex, gregis'', "flock".<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=178, 397}}</ref>

==Description==
This medium-sized lapwing has longish black legs and a short black bill. Summer adults have grey backs and breast, dark belly and white undertail. The head has a striking pattern, with a black crown and eyestripe, the latter being bordered above and below with white. The upper neck is ochre. Its longish black legs, white tail with a black terminal band and distinctive brown, white and grey wings make it almost unmistakable in flight. Length is {{convert|27|–|30|cm|in|abbr=on}}. The call is a harsh ''kereck''.

Winter adults have a less distinct head pattern, slightly browner back and breast, and white belly. Young birds have a scaly back and only traces of the head pattern.

[[File:Vanellus gregarius MHNT.jpg|thumb|left|Egg - [[MHNT]]]]

==Range and breeding==
This species breeds on open grassland in [[Russia]] and [[Kazakhstan]]. Three to four eggs are laid in a ground nest. These birds [[bird migration|migrate]] south through [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Uzbekistan]], [[Turkmenistan]], [[Afghanistan]], [[Armenia]], [[Iran]], [[Iraq]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Syria]] and [[Turkey]], to key wintering sites in [[Israel]], [[Syria]], [[Eritrea]], [[Sudan]] and north-west [[India]]. Birds winter occasionally in [[Pakistan]], [[Sri Lanka]] and [[Oman]]. It is a very rare vagrant in western and northern [[Europe]], where this gregarious bird is usually found with [[northern lapwing]]s. It feeds in a similar way, picking [[insect]]s and other small prey mainly from grassland or arable land.

[[File:Pîwîya bikil.jpg|thumb|left]]

==Status==
In 2004, [[BirdLife International]] categorised this bird as critically endangered, due to a very rapid population decline for poorly understood reasons. The main decline took place between 1960 and 1987, when the known population halved; it is some 20–25% of the 1930s population levels.<ref name=BirdLifeFactsheet/> The current population was estimated to be between 600 and 1,800 mature birds in 2006,<ref name=BirdLifeFactsheet/> but is being revised to the upward end of that scale, possibly more, following the discovery of the species' previously unknown main wintering grounds in [[Syria]], where 1500 birds of all ages were encountered.<ref name=BirdLife/> Additionally, in October 2007, a superflock of approximately 3,200 sociable lapwings were discovered in Turkey, according to Guven Eken, director of the Turkish Nature Association.<ref name=npr/> The current [[IUCN]] classification is '''CR A3bc'''—meaning that the population is expected to decline in the next decade or so by 80%, but based on theoretical considerations and the known [[habitat destruction]] rather than direct observation of the birds. Thus, the new discoveries might mean that as more data becomes available, the species could be downlisted to [[Endangered]].

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=BirdLife>{{cite web |title=Ornithologists "hit jackpot" on sightings of Critically Endangered bird |date=2 March 2007 |publisher=BirdLife International |url=http://www.birdlife.org/news/pr/2007/03/sociable_lapwing_discovery.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929211804/http://www.birdlife.org/news/pr/2007/03/sociable_lapwing_discovery.html |archivedate=29 September 2007 |deadurl=yes}}</ref>

<ref name=BirdLifeFactsheet>{{cite web |publisher=BirdLife International |title=Species factsheet: Sociable Lapwing ''Vanellus gregarius'' |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/factsheet/22694053 | accessdate = 20 September 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=npr>{{cite web |title=Superflock of Endangered Birds Spotted in Turkey |publisher=National Public Radio |url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15483243 |date=20 October 2007}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Vanellus gregarius}}
{{wikispecies|Vanellus gregarius}}
* [http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/photos/vanneau.sociable.html Sociable lapwing photos] at [http://www.oiseaux.net Oiseaux.net]
* {{Avibase|name=Vanellus gregarius}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|sociable-lapwing-vanellus-gregarius}}
* {{VIREO|Sociable+lapwing}}
* {{IUCN_Map|22694053|Vanellus gregarius}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Vanellus|gregarius|Sociable lapwing}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:lapwing, sociable}}
[[Category:Vanellinae|sociable lapwing]]
[[Category:Birds of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Vagrant birds of Africa]]
[[Category:Vagrant birds of Western Asia]]
[[Category:Vagrant birds of South Asia]]
[[Category:Asian migratory birds]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1771|sociable lapwing]]