Identification

Medium-sized plover from steppes of the high Andes and Patagonia. In its typical posture, it appears slender and upright, even more so when alert. It has several distinctive field marks, including its orange-rufous throat and black ventral patch. It also has a long neck and a square-looking head with large eyes. It is mostly silent, shy, and difficult to detect. Its flight is fast, high, and straight.

The Tawny-throated Dotterel is a slender, medium-sized shorebird (25–29 cm; 1 Hayman, P., J. H. Marchant, and A. J. Prater (1986). Shorebirds. An Identification Guide to the Waders of the World. Croom Helm, London, UK. Close ; see also Plumages, Molts, and Structure: Measurements). It is typically silent, shy, and difficult to detect, especially if it is crouching down (2 Couve, E., C. F. Vidal, and J. Ruiz (2016). Aves de Chile - Sus islas oceánicas y Península Antártica. Editorial Fantástico Sur, Punta Arenas, Chile. Close ; see Behavior). Once detected, however, it is quite distinctive. It has an upright posture, and it runs and stops repeatedly (see Behavior: Locomotion). Both sexes have identical plumage, with some individual variation (see Plumages, Molts, and Structure: Plumages). Overall, its plumage is a mix of pale gray, buff, and black; the breast, nape, and crown are generally pale gray, while the belly is buff colored with a central blackish patch; the throat is tawny-orange in color, and it has a distinctive pale supercilium and dark eye-line; the back is boldly patterned with black, gray, and rich buff. Its flight is fast, high, and straight, and it emits a mellow whistle when taking off: “PI-chew-chew-chew” or “PU-PI-u” (3 Pearman M., and J. I. Areta (2020). Birds of Argentina and the South-west Atlantic. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ). Flock members make monosyllabic trills and a high-pitched “Twerrrrrrr” (4 Martínez Piña, D. E., and G. E. González Cifuentes (2021). Birds of Chile. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ; see also Sounds and Vocal Behavior).

Although the Tawny-throated Dotterel has distincive field marks, with poor views it could be confused with the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) (5 Johnson, A. W. (1965). The Birds of Chile and Adjacent Regions of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. Volume 1. Platt Establecimientos Gráficos, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Close ), which has a much longer neck and a different color pattern, having distinctive streaking on the throat, breast, and sides, and lacking the bold eye-stripe and supercilium of the Tawny-throated Dotterel.

In flight, it could be mistaken for an American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) in basic plumage (6 Fjeldså, J., and N. Krabbe (1990). Birds of the High Andes: A Manual to the Birds of the Temperate Zone of the Andes and Patagonia, South America. Zoological Museum, University of Copenhagen, and Apollo Books, Copenhagen and Svendborg, Denmark. Close ); however, the Tawny-throated Dotterel has a more pronounced wing stripe, white underwings (not gray), and a paler more buff-colored rump which contrasts slightly with the back (7 Jaramillo, A. (2003). A Field Guide to the Birds of Chile Including the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Similarly, in flight, the Tawny-throated Dotterel could also be confused with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Calidris subruficollis), however the underwing pattern of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is distinctive, with the underwing primary coverts showing blackish centers, interrupting the otherwise white underwing pattern, while from above the Tawny-throated Dotterel has a prominent white wing stripe.