Red-kneed Dotterel

Adults distinctively marked: Black cap or hood from bill, extending below eyes, merging at nape to grey-brown of back. White chin and throat. Broad black band on breast joining nape and also extending to flanks as chestnut stripe. Belly and vent white. Back and mantle grey-brown, mainly black upperwing with white trailing edge. Upper leg, including tarsal joint or “knee”, red. Bill red with dark tip.

Picture of the Red-kneed Dotterel has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike.
Original source: Own work
Author: Aviceda

The Red-kneed Dotterel is classified as Least Concern. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.

The Red-kneed Dotterel can run very fast and often uses this ability to escape predators. Facts and figures Research Species: No Minimum size: 17 cm Maximum size: 19 cm Average size: 18 cm Average weight: 50 g Breeding season: August to January Clutch size: Three to four Calls Alarm call a rapid: 'wit-wit'. More

Thus, since the Red-kneed Dotterel is so distinct that it might arguably be considered a monotypic subfamily, increasing the reliability of dating its divergence from a selection of true lapwings and plovers would also give a good idea of charadriid wader evolution altogether. A mid-Oligocene - c.28 mya (million years ago) - fossil from Rupelmonde in Belgium has been assigned to Vanellus, but even if the genus were broadly defined it is entirely unclear if the placement is correct. More

The Red-kneed Dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus, is a long-legged, medium-sized (length 17-20 cm, wingspan 33-38 cm, weight 40-55 g) plover in a monotypic genus in the subfamily Vanellinae. It is often gregarious and will associate with other waders of its own and different species, even when nesting. It is nomadic and sometimes irruptive. More

Red-kneed DotterelThe Red-kneed Dotterel, Erythrogonys cinctus, is a plover in a monotypic (one single species) genus in the subfamily Vanellinae. It is often gregarious and will associate with other waders of its own and different species, even when nesting. It is nomadic and sometimes irruptive. Description This long-legged, medium-sized plover averages 17-20 cm in length, has a wingspan of 33-38 cm and weighs between 40-55 g. More

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Red-kneed Dotterels were first spotted by us on the fringes of Narrabri lake in September 2007. Seen again in the same location in September 2008. They usually run around the water's edge searching for food. They are quite hard to approach, because always out in open terrain. More

The Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus) is a species of bird found in Southern New Guinea and mainland Australia. It is a common vagrant to Tasmania and New Zealand. Its habitat is shallow ephemeral and permanent freshwater wetlands, occasionally saline wetlands, and rarely tidal wetlands. This is a long-legged medium-sized plover. It is 6.75 to 7.75 inches long with a wingspan of 13 to 15 inches long. Adults weigh between 1.5 and 2 ounces. More

Red-kneed Dotterel which is in the monotypic Erythrogonys. Its plesiomorphic habitus reminds of plovers, but details like the missing hallux (hind toe) are like in lapwings: it is still not entirely clear whether it is better considered the basalmost plover or lapwing. Many coloration details of the Red-kneed Dotterel also occur here and there among the living members of the main lapwing clade. More

Picture of Erythrogonys cinctus above has been licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license.
Original source: Arthur Chapman
Author: Arthur Chapman
Permission: Some rights reserved
Order : Charadriiformes
Family : Charadriidae
Genus : Erythrogonys
Species : cinctus
Authority : Gould, 1838