Lapwing has a wide habitat, covering the northwestern part of Africa, the steppe and forest-steppe zone of Eurasia, ranging from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Only near the Baltic Sea and in Western Europe they lead a sedentary lifestyle, and the lapwing travels throughout the rest of the territory. The bird is known to many, because in nature it is very common and attracts attention with a loud creak.
The lapwing meadow resembles a jackdaw or a pigeon in size, only its wings are much wider. Black-and-white plumage with a purple and blue-green shine immediately catches your eye, a crest is located on the back of the head. After wintering in warm places, they fly to us in early spring, when there is still snow, and immediately settle down in meadows, near marshes or in wet fields. They prefer to live in large families or couples, they fly away in packs, reaching more than a hundred birds.
In so many countries, a lapwing is known. The bird has different names - for example, in Russia it is called a beggar, meadow, lice, and in Poland and Ukraine it is mistakenly called a seagull. Slavic peoples at all times loved her, revered, therefore, it was strictly forbidden to kill the feathered. Perhaps most of the legends, songs and poems are not dedicated to a real seagull, but to a lapwing, because it also has a characteristic sad, crying sound of a voice. One of the Ukrainian hetmans made this bird a symbol of Ukraine, in legends it appears either as inconsolable widow or miserable mother, from whom children are taken.
Along with such early guests as a wild dove, a lark, a starling, a lapwing also flies to the nesting site. The bird arranges a nest right on the ground, tearing out a shallow hole and covering it with dry grass. The female lays four eggs, which she then licks with her partner in turn. Parents worry about the safety of the chicks, therefore, having seen a man from afar, they fly towards from their shelter and scream. Their cries very much resemble the exclamation of "whose you are, whose you are." Lapwings do not retreat and accompany a dangerous object, making incredible somersaults in the air.
The chicks by their behavior are a bit like penguins, in case of danger they hide. Running an insignificant distance, the kids stretch out in a “column”, as if listening to the surrounding sounds. Lapwing eats insects, worms, snails, millipedes and various invertebrates. The bird has adapted to living in an agrolandscape environment; it feels comfortable in the neighborhood of cattle and humans. The decrease in agricultural land negatively affected the population of this species of birds.
Oddly enough, but the abandoned and uncultivated fields overgrown with high weeds of the pasture does not consider a lapwing to be his home. The bird, whose photographs cause emotion, unfortunately, is found less and less. It should be noted that every year their number decreases. The reason for this is not only a change in the natural habitat, but also the extermination of thousands of individuals by hunters. Lapwings especially suffer during wintering where their meat is included in the diet of local residents: these are Iran, China, the countries of Asia Minor. Therefore, biologists are making every effort to protect birds from extermination, at least in Russia.
