Dotterel
The presence of this species has been noticed for the first time in 1952 by
the English ornithologist R. Vaughan. In the following years has been
checked the breeding of 5-7 couples.
However there is also to say that, in the last decade, the breeding has been
checked just few years. The indiscriminate access in the breeding places and
during critical periods represent a trouble factor that could cause the
death of broods threatening the only Italian population of Dotterel.
| Description |
| The Dotterel is a small wader with extended claws and beak
typical of water environments. It breeds, this is its most
important feature, on the dry plateaux of Majella above 2.000
meters. The Dotterel represents a real ornithological "jewel" of
Majella National Park because, except of our massif, in all over
the Europe it breeds in Scottish plateaux, in the arctic tundra
and in very few other mountains of Central-Eastern Europe. The
female, unlike the other birds, has brighter colors than male;
it is lightly bigger and leads the courting. |
| Behaviour |
| The Dotterel is a migratory species that winters in the
desert areas of Northern Africa and Middle East. During the
return journey towards the nest-building zones, this animal
seems to find on the summital plateaux of Majella the typical
conditions of arctic environments and for this reason there are
1 or 2 couples that breed there. The Dotterel is not afraid of
the men and lays down on the ground its eggs: both these
elements make this species extremely vulnerable. |
| Feeding |
| It mainly feeds on insects (small grasshoppers, beetles
ecc.) living on high altitudes of Majella among the stony
grounds and the formations of Silene acaulis, Androsace villosa,
Androsace mathildae and saxifrages. These plants survive the
extreme conditions, the strong winds and the sudden temperature
ranges thanks to their typical "small cushion-shaped" vegetal
formation. |
| Habitat |
| It breeds on Plateaux above 2.000 meters, on stony grounds
and small rounded peaks.. |
| Presence and
Sighting |
| The extreme confidence with the men makes easy to notice its
presence. However, the espanse of territory and the typical
difficulties of high-altitudes environments make the sightings
rare and precious. |
| Life Span |
| There are no data or checks in the scientific literature. |
Edited by Siro Baliva e Marco Liberatore - Majella National park
Authority.
