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plover

 
Dictionary: plov·er   (plŭv'ər, plō'vər) pronunciation
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n., pl., plover, or -ers.
  1. Any of various widely distributed wading birds of the family Charadriidae, having rounded bodies, short tails, and short bills.
  2. Any of various similar or related birds.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Vulgar Latin *pluviārius, from Latin pluvia, rain. See pluvial.]


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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: plover
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Golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria).
(click to enlarge)
Golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria). (credit: Kenneth W. Fink/Root Resources)
Any of about 36 species (family Charadriidae, order Charadriiformes) of plump-breasted shorebirds found almost worldwide. Plovers are 6 – 12 in. (15 – 30 cm) long and have long wings, longish legs, a short neck, and a straight, short bill. Many species are plain brown, gray, or sandy above and whitish below. Others, including the golden and black-bellied plovers, are finely patterned above and black below in breeding season. Many species run along the shoreline, snapping up small aquatic invertebrates. They have a melodious whistled call. Both parents incubate the two to five eggs and care for the young. See also killdeer.

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Food Lover's Companion: plover
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[PLUH-vuhr; PLOH-vuhr] A small game bird that's farm-raised in the United States (where it can't be hunted legally) and also imported from Europe. It's available on a limited basis in specialty poultry markets. The golden plover is considered superior and has a delicate and delicious meat. Plover is usually roasted.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: plover
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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.

Wikipedia: Plover
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For other uses, see Plover (disambiguation).
Plovers

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
Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius
Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus
Lesser Sand Plover, Charadrius mongolus
Snowy Plover, on the beach at Vanderberg, CA

Plovers are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. They are known to dive in lakes looking for fish. 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[citation needed].

Species list in taxonomic order

References

External links

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charadriinae

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Translations: Plover
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - hjejle

Nederlands (Dutch)
pluvier

Français (French)
n. - pluvier

Deutsch (German)
n. - Regenpfeifer

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ορνιθ.) βροχοπούλι, χαραδριός

Italiano (Italian)
piviere

Português (Portuguese)
n. - tarambola (f) (Ornit.)

Русский (Russian)
ржанка

Español (Spanish)
n. - chorlito

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - brockfågel, pipare

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
珩, 珩科鸟

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 珩, 珩科鳥

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 물떼새

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - チドリ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) زقزاق, طير التمساح : طير مائي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חופמי (עוף)‬

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Plover".  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more