Eurasian dotterel
Charadrius morinellus Linnaeus, 1758
Status not recordedbirds
The Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus), also called the Dotterel, is a bird in the family Charadriidae and the order Charadriiformes. It is a small bird with an adult body mass from 100 to 117 g, a representative mass of 108.5 g and a wingspan of 60 cm.
Quick facts about the Eurasian dotterel
This terrestrial, migratory invertivore lives in grassland and has a geographic range of 3,830,000 km². Clutches hold 3 eggs, incubation lasts 26 days, sexual maturity comes at 2 years, and its lifespan is up to 11.83 years.
- Weight
- 100 g – 117 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 60 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 11.8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 11.8 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 26 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the Eurasian dotterel?
Photos of the Eurasian dotterel
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
1 more photo exists under a licence we cannot display: view at source.
Where does the Eurasian dotterel live?
Not recorded
What is the Eurasian dotterel?
The Eurasian dotterel (Eudromias morinellus), also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It is the only species placed in the genus Eudromias.
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.
The Eurasian dotterel is a migratory species, breeding in Northern Europe and Eurosiberia and migrating south to North Africa and the Middle East in the winter. It nests in a bare scrape on the ground and lays two to four eggs. The male does the incubation and rears the chicks, with the female having gone off to find another male and lay another clutch of eggs. It is a common bird with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".
From the Wikipedia article “Eurasian dotterel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eurasian_dotterel&oldid=1326610484), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the Eurasian dotterel endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the Eurasian dotterel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyCharadriidae
- genusCharadrius
- SpeciesCharadrius morinellus Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Charadrius morinellus, Charadrius morinellus morinellus, Charadrius morinellus morinellus, Eudromias morinella, Eudromias morinellus, Morinellus anglorum
Other names and names in other languages (45)
- DotterelEnglish
- pollu tordu les grandesAsturian
- Morlivid-menezBreton
- corriol pit-roigCatalan
- kulík hnědýCzech
- hutan y mynyddWelsh
- Hutanod y MynyddWelsh
- pomeransfuglDanish
- MornellregenpfeiferGerman
- ΒουνοσφυριχτήςGreek
- Chorlito caramboloSpanish
- chorlitejo caramboloSpanish
- roosterind-tüll e. mornelEstonian
- keräkurmitsaFinnish
- Pluvier guignardFrench
- gurraicichScottish Gaelic
- amadain-mhòintichScottish Gaelic
- amadán móinteachScottish Gaelic
- Amadan mòintichScottish Gaelic
- amadan-mòintichScottish Gaelic
- gurraiceachScottish Gaelic
- Feddag volvaneaghManx
- חופמי ערבהHebrew
- šareni kulikCroatian
- havasi lileHungarian
- FjalllóaIcelandic
- piviere tortolinoItalian
- コバシチドリJapanese
- Boba bubaCornish
- mornelisLithuanian
- eurazinis mornelisLithuanian
- morinela tārtiņšLatvian
- morinella tārtiņšLatvian
- morinelplevierDutch
- boltitNorwegian Nynorsk
- mornelPolish
- borrelho-ruivoPortuguese
- láfolNorthern Sami
- kulík vrchovskýSlovak
- dularSlovenian
- fjällpipareSwedish
- dağ cılıbıtıTurkish
- ХрустанUkrainian
- хрустан євразійськийUkrainian
- 小嘴鸻Chinese
Relatives of the Eurasian dotterel
Other species in the same genus Charadrius.
Little ringed plover
Charadrius dubius
Common ringed plover
Charadrius hiaticula
Kentish plover
Charadrius alexandrinus
Greater sand plover
Charadrius leschenaultii
Siberian sand plover
Charadrius mongolus
Killdeer
Charadrius vociferus
CompareEurasian dotterel vs Little ringed ploverEurasian dotterel vs Common ringed ploverEurasian dotterel vs Kentish ploverEurasian dotterel vs Greater sand plover
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the Eurasian dotterel?
The Eurasian dotterel is a bird in the family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes. It belongs to the genus Charadrius.
How much does a Eurasian dotterel weigh?
An adult Eurasian dotterel weighs from 100 to 117 g, with a representative mass of 108.5 g. Its wingspan is 60 cm.
What does the Eurasian dotterel eat?
The Eurasian dotterel is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level.
What habitat does the Eurasian dotterel live in?
The Eurasian dotterel lives in grassland and forages on the ground as a terrestrial bird.
Is the Eurasian dotterel migratory?
Yes, the Eurasian dotterel is migratory. Its geographic range covers 3,830,000 km².
How many eggs does the Eurasian dotterel lay?
The Eurasian dotterel lays clutches of 3 eggs, with 1.5 clutches per year. Incubation lasts 26 days.
How long does the Eurasian dotterel live?
The Eurasian dotterel lives up to 11.83 years. It reaches sexual maturity at 2 years.
Who named the Eurasian dotterel?
The Eurasian dotterel was named Charadrius morinellus by Linnaeus, 1758.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-dotterel
“Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-dotterel.
@misc{eurasian_dotterel_2026,
title = {Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eurasian-dotterel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}