male summer

male summer female summer European distribution female summer

Identification

In summer, even the duller males are beautifully marked with grey breasts and chestnut bellies, separated by a bold white line across the chest. The distinctive line is also visible in their duller, browner winter plumage, as are the bold white eyestripes meeting at the nape which look even more striking in summer. Non breeding and juvenile birds may be confused with juvenile American Golden Plovers but are separated by the supercilium joining on the nape.

Habitat

Breeds on short turf on mountain tops.

Behaviour

Unusually it is the females who do most of the displaying and are therefore more colourful. Once the female has attracted a mate, she often leaves him to incubate and rear the chicks on his own. Meanwhile, she may continue to seek another willing male or she may have a go at rearing another brood herself, perhaps on a different mountain, or even in a different country. Dotterels perform the most remarkable distraction displays (see Ringed Plover) when disturbed from their chicks. This can be so convincing you might be tempted to try and pick the bird up but of course the right thing to do is to get well away from the site as carefully as you can.

Migration

Birds winter mainly in Morocco and north Africa between September-April, arriving in their Arctic and sub-Arctic breeding grounds in late May. On migration they travel in parties known as 'trips' which settle for several days. In spring these parties occur mostly in western Europe but in autumn they concentrate mostly in Hungary.

This information is taken from the BirdFile on the appropriate BirdGuides DVD-ROM. As well as video and sounds, our CD- and DVD-ROMs contain additional text on Voice, Sexing, Ageing, Food, Nests and Eggs and more.

For the purposes of our bird news services, Dotterel is classed as Local: generally fairly regular or common species that a 'county lister' or a birding beginner might be interested in going to see. (Note that rarity levels are currently applied nationally and may not reflect local variations in abundance.)

Pleinmont, Guernsey 30/08/2010	Pleinmont, Guernsey 30/08/2010	Scald Law, Lothian 24/08/2010	Scald Law, Lothian 24/08/2010	Scald Law, Lothian 24/08/2010
Scald Law, Lothian 24/08/2010	Scald Law, Lothian 24/08/2010	Scald Law, Lothian 22/08/2010	Oare Marshes, Kent 18/08/2010	West Carlton, E Yorks 11/08/2010

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Dotterel breeds in the following countries (Bird News Extra subscribers will see population statistics and information on trends for each country):

Andorra
Austria
Britain
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Greece
Italy
Norway
Poland
Russia
Spain
Sweden

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	Where to 'Trip' Over Dotterels	Wednesday 2nd May 2007
	Where are some of the more reliable sites to encounter passage groups of this attractive and topical wader?

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