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Where to see

Where to see the Crowned Lapwing in South Africa

Hosts have recorded the Crowned Lapwing at stays in or beside Goukamma Nature Reserve, Kruger National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Vanellus coronatus

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Crowned Lapwing
Photo: (c) Paul Hoekman, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Paul Hoekman

Planning a trip

When and where to find the Crowned Lapwing

Hosts have recorded the Crowned Lapwing at stays in or beside Goukamma Nature Reserve, Kruger National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.

Best hours of the day

  • The first hours after sunrise, and late afternoon. Birds call and feed most in the cool.
  • Midday. Quieter, especially in summer heat.

Where to base yourself

  • Western Cape

    Western Cape

    Goukamma · Rocherpan · De Hoop

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Western Cape
    Western Cape
  • Limpopo

    Limpopo

    Kruger · Welgevonden

    Self-driveGuided drives
    Stays in Limpopo
    Limpopo
  • Northern Cape

    Northern Cape

    Kgalagadi

    Self-driveMalaria-free
    Stays in Northern Cape
    Northern Cape
  • Eastern Cape

    Eastern Cape

    Kwandwe

    Guided drivesMalaria-free
    Stays in Eastern Cape
    Eastern Cape

Ways to look

Drive yourself

Your own vehicle and pace, on the park's roads.

Where hosts record it

GoukammaKrugerKgalagadiRocherpanDe Hoop

Guided drives from a lodge

A guide who knows where to look, with off-road and night drives in the private reserves.

Where hosts record it

KwandweWelgevonden

Species

Vanellus coronatus

Records

3,012

iNaturalist observations

Every booking on Spekboom supports conservation.

Questions travellers ask

A record means a host has seen the Crowned Lapwing on the property or nearby. It is never a guarantee of a sighting.

Which parks and reserves are best for the Crowned Lapwing in South Africa?

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Crowned Lapwing at stays in or beside Goukamma Nature Reserve, Kruger National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Kwandwe Private Game Reserve, Rocherpan Nature Reserve and De Hoop Nature Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

Where can you see the Crowned Lapwing in South Africa?

The Crowned Lapwing is most recorded in Gauteng (28% of records), Western Cape (22% of records), Mpumalanga (12% of records), based on 3,012 iNaturalist observations. 64 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Crowned Lapwing on site or nearby.

When is the best time to see the Crowned Lapwing?

The Crowned Lapwing is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Goukamma Nature Reserve: year-round, warm Oct-Apr; Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Kwandwe Private Game Reserve: year-round, best Mar-May, Sep-Nov. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

What is the Crowned Lapwing?

The crowned lapwing (Vanellus coronatus), or crowned plover, is a bird of the lapwing subfamily that occurs contiguously from the Red Sea coast of Somalia to southern and southwestern Africa. It is an adaptable and numerous species, with bold and noisy habits. It is related to the more localized black-winged and Senegal lapwings, with which it shares some plumage characteristics.

Stays that give back

Where to stay for a chance to see the Crowned Lapwing

Every stay on the Crowned Lapwing page lists the species its host has recorded on or near the property. A record is a sighting, never a promise.

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