Eurasian Dotterel

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Eurasian Dotterel in the UK

A scarce summer visitor and passage migrant, usually just called Dotterel. The last full survey, in 2011, estimated about 425 breeding males, nearly all on the high tops of the Scottish Highlands. That followed declines between each of the three national surveys since 1987, with the steepest losses in the east Highlands core. It is Red-listed and protected under Schedule 1. Breeding outside Scotland is now very rare. Small groups, known as trips, pass through England and Wales in spring, and scattered juveniles appear in autumn. It winters in North Africa.

Where and when to see a Eurasian Dotterel

The best chance for most people is spring passage, from the last week of April to about 10 May. Trips use the same bare hilltops and fields year after year. Pendle Hill in Lancashire is the best known, with Danby Beacon and Ingleborough in North Yorkshire also regular. Pea fields in Yorkshire and the Cambridgeshire fens sometimes hold groups. In summer, birds are on the high Cairngorms and neighbouring plateaux: keep to paths and never approach a sitting bird. Autumn juveniles turn up from late August on coastal turf, airfields and the Isles of Scilly.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Mountain plateaux (summer).
Diet: Insects.
Field note: Tame; female brighter than male.

How to identify a Eurasian Dotterel

Smaller and more compact than a Golden Plover. Adults in spring have a dark cap, broad white eyebrows that meet in a V on the nape, a grey breast, a narrow white breast band, a chestnut belly and a black patch below that. Females are brighter than males, the reverse of most birds. Juveniles are scaly buff and brown but keep the long pale eyebrow and a faint pale line across the breast. Legs are dull yellow. The wings are plain in flight, with no white bar. Birds are often very approachable.

Call and song

Quiet. The flight call is a soft, rolling 'pyurr' or a repeated 'pwit-pwit', usually given on take-off. Trips on passage are easy to miss by ear. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• European Golden Plover: Golden Plover is larger and gold-spangled with a white wingbar and white underwings, and lacks the long white eyebrow and breast line.
• Caspian Plover: Caspian Plover is an extreme vagrant with longer legs, a white face and belly, and a chestnut breast band with no white line below it.

Month by month

A summer visitor, typically in the UK from May to August. Numbers peak in June. See the June birding guide for what else is about. More on the season in Bird migration in Britain.

Taller bars mean more birds about. Grey means it is usually absent.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Eurasian Dotterel is a Rare tier bird, worth +8 points when you log one. It is Red-listed in Birds of Conservation Concern 5, the highest level of concern in the UK. It is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest. We blur the location of every sighting of this species.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• KilldeerLegendary · Short grass (rare vagrant)
• Little Ringed PloverUncommon · Gravel pits
• Ringed PloverUncommon · Beaches
• Semipalmated PloverLegendary · Beaches
• Common Grasshopper WarblerRare · Rough grassland
• Marsh WarblerRare · Damp scrub (very rare summer)

Eurasian Dotterel: quick answers

Where can I see a Dotterel in the UK?

Follow bird news in late April and early May and visit a traditional passage hill such as Pendle. Trips often stay a few days and allow close views. For breeding birds you need a long walk on to the high Cairngorms in June, in good weather.

Why is the female Dotterel brighter than the male?

The sexes swap roles. Females compete for mates and lay the eggs, then leave. The duller male incubates and raises the chicks alone, so camouflage matters more for him. Some females go on to lay for a second male.

Why are Dotterels so tame?

They breed where few people or ground predators go and rely on camouflage instead of flight. The name comes from an old word for a fool, because birds were so easy to catch. Tameness is no excuse to crowd them: stay back and let them feed.

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