Plovers & Lapwings in Switzerland
Our list for Switzerland has 7 plovers & lapwings recorded regularly there: 1 resident, 1 summer visitor and 5 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Switzerland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 7, most common first
Northern LapwingVanellus vanellusResidentUncommon28–31 cmRecorded all year
Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticulaPassage migrantUncommon17–19 cmRegularly Apr–Oct
Little Ringed PloverThinornis dubiusSummer visitorUncommon14–17 cmRegularly Mar–Sep
Golden PloverPluvialis apricariaPassage migrantUncommon26–29 cmRegularly Nov–Apr
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaPassage migrantRare27–30 cmRegularly May–Oct
DotterelEudromias morinellusPassage migrantRare20–22 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
Kentish PloverCharadrius alexandrinusPassage migrantRare15–17 cmRegularly May
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Ringed Plover 14–17 cm
- Kentish Plover 15–17 cm
- Ringed Plover 17–19 cm
- Dotterel 20–22 cm
- Golden Plover 26–29 cm
- Grey Plover 27–30 cm
- Northern Lapwing 28–31 cm
Body length, bill to tail. Rare birds in grey.
Data: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset (Cornell Lab of Ornithology), accessed via GBIF.org, CC BY 4.0. Records from 2019–2024, aggregated and filtered by Birdfact. How these lists are made