The spur-winged lapwing or spur-winged plover (Vanellus spinosus) name refers to a small claw or spur hidden in each of its wings – it is known to sometimes use the wing-claws in an attack on animals and, rarely, people, who get too close to the birds' exposed offspring. The spur-winged lapwing breeds around the eastern Mediterranean, and in a wide band from sub-Saharan west Africa to Arabia. It prefers marshes and similar freshwater wetland habitats.
