Overview
The dotterel is a brown and black streaked bird with a broad white eye-stripe and an orange-red chest band when in breeding plumage. The female is more colourful than the male. The bird is tame and unsuspecting and the term dotterel has been applied contemptuously to mean an old fool.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Charadriidae
- Genus
- Charadrius
- Species
- morinellus
Habitat
Coastal areas.
Diet
Insects and other small invertebrates such as snails and worms and shellfish.
Behavior
The male dotterel generally is responsible for incubation and looks after the chicks. In most cases the cock dotterel successfully prevents other males from getting his mate and fertilizing her eggs. He usually rears chicks that he has fathered and only 4.6% (2/44) of chicks were not the genetic offspring of the caring male, corresponding to 9.1% (2/22) broods affected.
Hunting
More information needed.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.