Wild Birds

Dotterel Welfare and Mountaintop Habitat Vulnerability

The dotterel is a tame and trusting mountain plover that breeds on high Scottish summits, with welfare closely tied to the extent and quality of montane plateau habitats threatened by climate change.

Key Facts

Around 500 to 750 pairs of dotterel breed in Scotland, mainly on high plateaux above 750m
Like phalaropes, female dotterels are brighter plumaged and males incubate and rear chicks
Passage dotterels stop at traditional sites in eastern England during spring migration
They breed on sparse, windswept vegetation including Racomitrium moss heath and stony ground
Climate warming is reducing the extent of suitable high-altitude breeding habitat in Scotland

Welfare Considerations

Dotterels are highly vulnerable to climate change because their specialist montane habitat is shrinking as vegetation zones shift upward and ultimately run out of space at mountain summits. Their extreme tameness makes them vulnerable to disturbance by hillwalkers and dogs during the breeding season. Breeding failure due to predation by foxes and corvids is increasing as these predators expand upward in elevation.

What You Can Do

Keep dogs on lead on Scottish mountaintops during the May to July breeding season
Support Cairngorms Connect and other upland restoration programs
Advocate for ambitious climate action to preserve high-altitude montane habitats
Record dotterel passage sightings at traditional eastern England tripod sites
Back predator management programs on grouse moors that incidentally benefit dotterel