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Red-kneed Dotterel

 

Erythrogonys cinctus

IUCN status: Least concern

Population 25000

Identification

A medium-sized black, white and chestnut wader. It has an upright stance.

Plumage

Adult:  The crown, nape, back of the neck, lores and ear-coverts are black.  The mantle, scapulars and wing-coverts are brown. The chin, throat and upper breast are white.  The rest of the breast is a black band that extends down the flanks becoming chestnut.  The rest of the underparts are white.  The short, straight bill is pinkish with a black tip.  The legs are grey but with the naming pink “knees”.
Juvenile:  The upperparts are reddish-brown.  The underparts are white with no black breast band.

 

Confusing Species

The Red-kneed Dotterel is easy to distinguish from other species though it has been confused with :
Black-fronted Plover:  This bird is smaller than the Red-kneed Dotterel.  It has a distinctive black V-shaped band on the breast.

Distribution

Range includes most of Australia and southern New Guinea. Occurs on shallow, fresh or brackish inland and coastal wetalnds.

Monthly reports of Red-kneed Dotterel in Queensland

Monthly sightings

Best sites in Queensland to see Red-kneed Dotterel

Location Times reported No. of eBird lists Probability %
Kianawah Road Wetlands Hemmant 342 919 37.2
GJ Fuller Oval Lagoons 158 470 33.6
Port Bundaberg (restricted access) 99 322 30.7
Nathan Road Wetlands 325 1153 28.2
Lake Cooby, Groomsville 25 89 28.1
Mt Isa Wastewater Treatment Plant (new) 36 140 25.7
Coolum Parade Wetlands 88 440 20
Lake Patricia Weipa 20 107 18.7
Duck World Brandon 12 67 17.9
Kedron Brook Wetlands Reserve 470 3041 15.5

Best Places to see Red-kneed Dotterel in Qld – by region

South East Qld
Wide Bay Burnett
Central Coast
Mackay Isaac
North Qld
Far North Qld

Conservation 

EPBC listing:  not listed as threatened

 

 

References

  1. BirdLife Australia (2023). Red-kneed Dotterel. [Text before updates sourced from: Marchant, S. et al (eds) 1990-2006 Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds.Volume 1 to 7.] Birdlife Australia. Birdlife Australia. Source: https://hanzab.birdlife.org.au/species/red-kneed-dotterel/ Accessed: April 30, 2026 Time Zone: +10:00
  2. Wiersma, P., G. M. Kirwan, and A. Bonan Barfull (2020). Red-kneed Dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rekdot1.01
  3. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
  4. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  5. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
  6. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  7. van Swinderen, L., Hansen, B.D., Fuller, R.A., Watkins, D., Rogers, D.I., Clemens, R.S., Newman, M., Woehler, E.J., Weller, D.R. and LeClair, S. (2025). Revision of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  8. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/