NUMBERS AND DISTRIBUTION OF DOTTEREL CHARADRIUS MORINELLUS BREEDING IN GREAT-BRITAIN

The Dotterel, one of Britain's rarer breeding birds, nests on montane plateaux. Numbers and distribution of breeding Dotterel in Britain wer e determined by an extensive survey in 1987 and 1988 combined with a d etailed on-going study. One hundred and twenty-eight montane tops were surveyed (56% of all potential breeding habitat). Three hundred and t hirty-three breeding 'pairs' (males are virtually solely responsible f or incubation and chick rearing) were found, with an overall mean dens ity of 1.7 pairs/km(2). The counts were corrected, conservatively, giv ing a revised population estimate of >840 breeding pairs. Most pairs ( 65%) are in the eastern Scottish Highlands, the stronghold of the spec ies in the European Community (EC). Larger numbers than previously est imated were found. The species is more abundant and widespread through out the central, western and northern Scottish Highlands than hitherto estimated. The apparent population increase is partly attributed to a more intensive survey effort, and partly to a genuine increase (more birds passing through Britain may stop off to breed, and climatic chan ge in Norway may influence more settlements in Britain). Dotterel meri t protection under the EC Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds, and this survey, based mainly on the efforts of volunteers, has provi ded information used to identify proposed montane Special Protection A reas.