Plovers & Lapwings in Scotland
Our list for Scotland has 7 plovers & lapwings recorded regularly there: 2 residents, 1 summer visitor, 2 winter visitors and 2 passage migrants
Most likely in October
GBIF · OctShare of all bird records in Scotland in October, 2019–2024. Each month links to that month’s page.
All 7, most common first
Northern LapwingVanellus vanellusResidentCommon28–31 cmRecorded all year
Ringed PloverCharadrius hiaticulaResidentCommon17–19 cmRecorded all year
Golden PloverPluvialis apricariaWinter visitorUncommon26–29 cmRecorded all year
Grey PloverPluvialis squatarolaWinter visitorUncommon27–30 cmRegularly Aug–May
Little Ringed PloverThinornis dubiusSummer visitorRare14–17 cmRegularly Apr–Sep
American Golden-PloverPluvialis dominicaPassage migrantRare24–28 cmRegularly Sep–Oct
DotterelEudromias morinellusPassage migrantRare20–22 cmRegularly Sep
Smallest to largest
Length, cm- Little Ringed Plover 14–17 cm
- Ringed Plover 17–19 cm
- Dotterel 20–22 cm
- American Golden-Plover 24–28 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