Alternative name: Rufous-chested Plover
- Zonibyx modestus
Charadrius modestus
Identification
19–22 cm (7½-8¾ in)
Breeding male:
- Bright white supercilium
- Ashy-grey face, cheeks and throat
- Rufous-red breast with black lower border
- White belly
Breeding female: Similar to male but paler and duller. Rufous on chest faded.
Non-breeding adult: Head paler brown with forehead and supercilium creamy-buff. Upperparts brown with scapulars and coverts mottled and fringed with buff. Chin and throat whitish. Neck and breast mottled brown.
Juvenile: Similar to non-breeding adult. Upperparts especially mantle and scapulars very dark brown with bold white fringes. Neck and breast are mottled dark brown.
Distribution
Breeds in Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Islands; winters to southern Brazil. Extra-limital records in Brazil as far north as Rio de Janeiro.
Taxonomy
Some authors place this species in the monotypic genus Zonibyx characterized by having a hind toe and unfeathered tibia.
Photo © by Joseph Morlan
Camino Dinamarquero-Ciake, Magallanes, Chile, 5 February 2015
Subspecies
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Coastal moorland and dunes. Breeds mostly inland on short grass.
Behaviour
Breeding
Breeds October to January. They are solitary. Nest is placed in open. Usually inconspicuous while breeding but may launch itself into the air to perform an energetic aerial display.
Diet
They feed at the water's edge on insects, larvae, crustaceans and molluscs. Also algae and other plant material.
Vocalisations
Typical flight call is a mellow bisyllabic peeeu-dip, sometimes shortened to peeu. Also a wheezy whistle.
Movements
Partly migratory. Breeds inland, winters along the coast. Southernmost breeders migrate north in March to April, returning August to September.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- SIMPSON, R. & SIMPSON, E. 2010. Registro documentado da batuíra-de peito tijolo, Charadrius modestus (Charadriiformes: Charadriidae) em Paraty, Rio de Janeiro. Atualidades Ornitológicas, 162: 18-19.(Documented record of Rufous-chested Dotterel Charadrius modestus (Charadriformes: Charadriidae) in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro
- Wiersma, P., Kirwan, G.M. & Boesman, P. (2019). Rufous-chested Plover (Charadrius modestus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53850 on 20 January 2019).
- Rufous-chested Dotterel (Charadrius modestus), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/rucdot1
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Rufous-chested Dotterel. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rufous-chested_Dotterel
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
