Dunlin

When: Winter

Scientific name: Calidris aplina

Scots name: Sea mouse, pickerel, Plover's page

Gaelic name: gille-feadaig

Size: Around 20cm in length, wingspan 40cm

Where: Feeding and flying in large flocks around the banks of the river

The Inner Forth is famed for its wading bird populations over winter, with large number of dunlin adding to the throngs along the river. These birds arrive from countries such as Iceland, Greenland and Norway, to escape the much harsher winters in these northern territories.

One of the smallest wading birds you will see around the Inner Forth, dunlin spend the winter days feeding on invertebrates and molluscs in the mud, flocking to roosts in nearby fields to settle overnight. Their plumage turns from bright red with a distinctive black belly patch in summer, to a pale grey and pure white belly in winter. This paler plumage makes them less easy to recognise, but gives them good camouflage in the pale winter light, protecting them from predators. Their dark, slightly down curved bills can help to identify them, with females sporting slightly longer bills than their male counterparts.

While walking along the coast, you can listen out for the wittering and whistling of the waders feeding out on the mudfats as you go by. The Gaelic name for the dunlin, gille-feadaig, actually comes from it's song, translating to the 'whistling servant'. The short, sharp bursts of the dunlin's song are indeed distinctive - you can have a listen to what they sound like here: https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/dunlin/. The 'servant' connotation is also reflected in the Scot's name for the bird; Plover's Page. And indeed, if you spot a Golden plover amongst the rocks on a muddy beach, it is likely that you will see a dunlin or two along with it! The smaller dunlin are known to stay close by to plovers, presumably for protective reasons, as the plovers are renowned for having a piercing defence call of their own, which in turn would alert the dunlin to any dangers nearby.

The winter population of dunlin in the Forth remains relatively stable, showing that this is a good wintering site for this species, as globally dunlin are in decline. Like many other waders, dunlin return to uplands to breed in the summer, with the Hebrides supporting large nesting populations. To find out more about these cute wee waders, visit https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/dunlin