Alice Springs Desert Park
The Black-fronted Dotterel (Elseyornis melanops) is a common little bird seen around inland waterholes, often all year round.
They have streaked upperparts, with strong white eyebrow, and a heavy black line through the eye. The adults have a distinctive black V shape mark on their chest. Their two-tone mottled brown feathers help them blend in with the sand and pebbles at the water’s edge. They have red eye-ring.
When incubating their eggs, and the temperature is really hot, they can be seen standing above the eggs to provide shade over the eggs.
Images © Ausemade Pty Ltd
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Aves
- Order: Charadriiformes
- Family: Charadriidae
- Genus: Elseyornis
- Species: Elseyornis melanops
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