The Blacksmith!
The blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover (Vanellus armatus). The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.
It is distributed throughout southern and eastern Africa - where it occurs in the Savannah grasslands, wetlands, riverine forests and moist grasslands.
It eats aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, doing most of its foraging early and late in the day, standing still while intently scanning for prey; once spotted it dashes forward to pluck the animal from the surface of the ground or water. It also searches for insect larvae in dung, sometimes trembling its foot in shallow water to attract prey to the surface.
Photographed early in the morning at the Hyena Dam in Nairobi National Park, Kenya.
The Blacksmith!
The blacksmith lapwing or blacksmith plover (Vanellus armatus). The vernacular name derives from the repeated metallic 'tink, tink, tink' alarm call, which suggests a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil.
It is distributed throughout southern and eastern Africa - where it occurs in the Savannah grasslands, wetlands, riverine forests and moist grasslands.
It eats aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, doing most of its foraging early and late in the day, standing still while intently scanning for prey; once spotted it dashes forward to pluck the animal from the surface of the ground or water. It also searches for insect larvae in dung, sometimes trembling its foot in shallow water to attract prey to the surface.
Photographed early in the morning at the Hyena Dam in Nairobi National Park, Kenya.