Wattled Lapwing

We were in the Narus Valley driving toward the Kidepo Valley in Kidepo Valley NP when we encountered what our guide, William, called wattled lapwings near the road. I've seen red wattled lapwings and yellow-wattled lapwings previously and I kept asking him, "are they yellow wattled lapwings?" 

A red-wattled lapwing seen in Sri Lanka.

A yellow-wattled lapwing seen in Sri Lanka.

Well no, they weren't, they have yellow wattles, but they weren't yellow wattled lapwings they were wattled lapwings. I didn't figure that out until I got home and could make sense out of why William seemed so confused by my question. 

This wattled lapwing has a yellow wattle, but is quite different than the yellow-wattled lapwing. I've found that when I see a bird or two here or there it is easy to conflate similarities and not notice differences. 

Illustration of the wattled lapwing from Birds of the World. 

The wattled lapwing is also known as the African wattled lapwing and Senegal wattled plover. It has a distinctive white forehead and yellow wattle, and what looks like red at the base of the bill or forehead. But a close-up photo on Birds of the World reveals that the red is part of the wattle, so it is really a red and yellow wattled lapwing! The tail is white, tipped black (but you only see the black because of the wings) and the legs, feet and bill are bright yellow. There are several subspecies and it appears that I saw the nominate subspecies, but they're not worth going into at this point.  

Range from Birds of the World. 

I really enjoy the lapwings/plovers. They are good-sized birds that vary quite a bit and have distinctive features.