# Black-fronted Dotterel

*Thinornis melanops*

This species self-colonized New Zealand from Australia in the 1950s, successfully establishing breeding populations without human assistance.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Charadriidae › Thinornis
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** increasing
- **Biome:** wetland
- **Habitat:** Freshwater wetlands, riverbeds, farm dams, lakes, and temporary inland claypans.
- **Diet:** Small aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, including insects, larvae, crustaceans, and occasionally seeds.
- **Range:** Australia, New Zealand
- **Size:** 16-18 cm in length, weighing 30-35 grams
- **Lifespan:** 5 to 8 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Predation by feral cats and foxes, trampling of nests by livestock, and disturbance of nesting beaches by off-road vehicles.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. Observe these small birds from a distance, especially on gravelly shorelines where their highly camouflaged eggs are laid directly on the ground. If the bird begins running with a drooping wing, it is performing a distraction display; step back immediately to avoid stepping on its nest.

## About

The black-fronted dotterel ( Charadrius melanops ) is a small plover in the family Charadriidae that is found throughout much of Australia and New Zealand.

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/899b625b-7b5d-46ef-954a-7951a1fe09b6
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/1580333
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-fronted_dotterel
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/478844188/medium.jpg (Thomas Jaeger, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.