plover

 

(plŭv'ər) , common name for some members of the large family Charadriidae, shore birds, small to medium in size, found in ice-free lands all over the world. Plovers are plumpish wading birds with pigeonlike bills and strong markings of black or brown above with white below. In flocks they frequent ocean beaches and sand and mud flats, following the backwash of waves in search of the small marine invertebrates that form their diet. The best-known plovers in America are the noisy killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), found in pasturelands; the larger (11 in./27.5 cm) black-bellied (Squatarola squatarola) and golden (Pluvialis dominica) plovers, which migrate as far as 2,000 mi (3,220 km) annually; and the ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres). The Old World dotterel and the European lapwing are members of the family, as are the crocodile birds of Africa, insectivorous plovers described by Herodotus as picking the teeth of crocodiles. Lapwings are slightly larger than plovers and are found in most tropical and temperate countries, with the notable exception of North America, where they have been extinct since the Pleistocene era. Both lapwings and plovers nest on open ground and dig shallow hollows lined with pebbles or plant debris where their clutch of eggs (usually four) are deposited. Both male and female share the duties of rearing the young. The crab plover (Dromas ardeola) of India, Arabia, and E Africa, with its heronlike bill and webbed toes, is so distinct that it is placed in a family by itself, the Dromadidae. It derives its name from its habit of pounding crabs and mollusks to pieces with its heavy bill. Crab plovers lay only one egg per clutch in a deep nest dug into a sand bank. They are easily approached and flock in large groups on coastal mud flats and beaches. Plovers are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Charadriiformes, family Charadriidae. Crab plovers belong to the same order.

Plovers
Killdeer
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae Subfamily: Charadriinae Leach, 1820
Genera
Pluvialis Charadrius Thinornis Elseyornis Peltohyas Anarhynchus Phegornis Oreopholus

Plovers are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. There are about 40 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subfamily, Vanellinae, comprises another 20-odd species.

Plovers are found throughout the world, and are characterised by relatively short bills. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like snipe do.

They feed mainly on insects, worms or other invertebrates, depending on habitat, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups.

Species list

• Eurasian Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria
• Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva
• American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica - the American and Pacific Golden Plovers were formerly considered conspecific (as "Lesser Golden Plover"; Sangster et al., 2002)
• Grey Plover or Black-bellied Plover, Pluvialis squatarola

• New Zealand Dotterel or Red-breasted Plover, Charadrius obscurus
• Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula
• Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius semipalmatus
• Long-billed Plover, Charadrius placidus
• Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius
• Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia
• Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus
• Piping Plover, Charadrius melodus
• Black-banded Plover, Charadrius thoracicus
• Kittlitz's Plover, Charadrius pecuarius
• St. Helena Plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae
  

  

  Plover eggs laid on the ground
• Three-banded Plover, Charadrius tricollaris
• Forbes' Plover, Charadrius forbesi
• Kentish Plover or Snowy Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
• Javan Plover, Charadrius (alexandrinus) javanicus
• White-fronted Plover, Charadrius marginatus
• Red-capped Plover, Charadrius ruficapillus
• Malaysian Plover, Charadrius peronii
• Chestnut-banded Plover, Charadrius pallidus
• Collared Plover, Charadrius collaris
• Puna Plover, Charadrius alticola
• Double-banded Plover, Charadrius bicinctus
• Two-banded Plover, Charadrius falklandicus
• Lesser Sand Plover, Charadrius mongolus
• Greater Sand Plover, Charadrius leschenaultii
• Caspian Plover, Charadrius asiaticus
• Oriental Plover, Charadrius veredus
• Eurasian Dotterel, Charadrius morinellus
• Rufous-chested Dotterel, Charadrius modestus
• Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus
• Hooded Plover, Charadrius rubricollis

• Shore Plover, Thinornis novaeseelandiae

• Black-fronted Dotterel, Elseyornis melanops

• Inland Dotterel, Peltohyas australis

• Wrybill, Anarhynchus frontalis

• Diademed Plover, Phegornis mitchellii

• Tawny-throated Dotterel, Oreopholus ruficollis

Many of the Charadrius species are characterised by breast bands or collars. These can be (in the adult) complete bands (Ringed, Semipalmated, Little Ringed, Long-billed), double or triple bands (Killdeer, Three-banded, Forbes', Two-banded, Double-banded) or partial collars (Kentish, Piping, Malaysian, Javan, Red-capped, Puna)

References

• Sangster, George; Knox, Alan G.; Helbig, Andreas J. & Parkin, David T. (2002): Taxonomic recommendations for European birds. Ibis 144(1): 153–159. doi:10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x PDF fulltext

External links

• Plover videos on the Internet Bird Collection

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