As well as the name "Lapwing", this beautiful bird has a variety of names including Peewit, and Green Plover.  It is about 30 cm in length.  There are sevral species of lapwings across open countryside in many countries and continents which are part of a bigger family of birds from a faily called "Charadridae".

Like so many birds they used to be a common sight and could often be seen in large numbers across farmlands, reservoirs, moorland, and on the coast.  But during the past twenty years the population decrease has been very fast and they are now much less common.  It is however still possible to see them in reasonable numbers particularly during the cold months of winter when they can be found in flocks in inland areas.

The current British summer population is thought to be around 120,000 pairs, the winter pouplation is thought to be around half that of the summer breeding numbers.  Lapwing eggs used to collected for eating in early Victorian times, indeed in the Netherlands, there was an annual competition to see who could collect the first Peewit eggs each spring.

It's continental range is as far south as India and Pakistan during the winter months, It is found across Northern europe and occasinally North America.  the global polulation is over 1,000,000 pairs.

The images below were all taken during the summer months at a variety of locations, they are all taken in spring and show the lapwing in their spring breeding coat that is so familiar with the lovely iridesent colours.