The genus name Vanellus is Medieval Latin for a lapwing and derives from vannus a winnowing fan.

Adults are slim erect birds with a brown back and foreneck, paler face and grey breast.

It breeds semi-colonially on inland marshes in Iraq, Kuwait, Iran and southern Russia.

In some parts of its distribution range the species faces threats related to habitat destruction and unintentional poaching.

[3] The white-tailed lapwing is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.