Priba (Vanellus vanellus) is a bird the size of a goloba from the plover family, which we group into a large and diverse group of shorebirds. From the tip of the short, narrow bill to the end of the tail it measures 28 to 31 cm. The span of distinctly broad wings with a rounded tip is between 67 and 72 cm. We will have trouble replacing Priba with any other species. From a distance it is a black-and-white bird on long legs, but if we have the opportunity to see it up close, we notice that the color of its back and the upper side of the wings gleams in a metallic luster in flowing shades of dark green to brown-violet color tones. Only in winter do the edges of feathers on its back fade. The front part of the neck, the beak, the stripe across the white cheeks and the crown, which is adorned by a long tuft of thin feathers. The whiteness of the belly extends on the underside of the wings to the 'wrist', the remaining part of the underside of the wings is black. The tail tip and the lower part of the tail are reddish-brown, the upper side of the tail is white with a black triangular pattern at the end. The legs are dirty pinkish in color.
Priba is a loud bird, which we often hear also at night. An intruder who disturbs the lapwing during nesting is frightened by the parents with a piercing screech and is driven away from the nest with attacks from the air. Between April and July it nests in meadows in lowlands. It prefers natural marshy meadows, but nests also on pastures and lawns with patches of bare ground and even in fields. It scrapes a shallow nest in areas with low vegetation. After breeding, the lapwings gather in large flocks, which then migrate from Europe to wintering grounds in Africa. In winter the lapwing remains very sociable, roosting collectively on large, open pastures, and it searches for food in moist meadows, along the banks of rivers and lakes, in plowed fields and in coastal areas. It feeds mainly on insects, both larvae and adult individuals, also preying on spiders, snails, earthworms and amphibians, a smaller part of its diet consisting of seeds and other parts of plants.
