Plover
Encyclopedia
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. There are about 40 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing
Lapwing
Vanellinae are any of various crested plovers, family Charadriidae, noted for its slow, irregular wingbeat in flight and a shrill, wailing cry. Its length is 10-16 inches. They are a subfamily of medium-sized wading birds which also includes the plovers and dotterels. The Vanellinae are...
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
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
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.
The plover group of birds has a distraction display
Distraction display
Distraction displays, also known as deflection display, diversionary display or paratrepsis, are anti-predator behaviours used to attract the attention of an enemy away from an object, typically the nest or young, that is being protected. They are particularly well known in birds but noted also in...
subcategorized as false brooding, pretending to change position, to sit on an imaginary nest site.
A group of plovers may be referred to as a stand, wing, or congregation. A group of dotterels may be referred to as a trip.
Species list in taxonomic order
- European Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria
- Pacific Golden PloverPacific Golden PloverThe Pacific Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.The 23–26 cm long breeding adult is spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Its face and neck are black with a white border and it has a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black...
, Pluvialis fulva - American Golden PloverAmerican Golden PloverThe American Golden Plover is a medium-sized plover.Adults are spotted gold and black on the crown, back and wings. Their face and neck are black with a white border; they have a black breast and a dark rump. The legs are black....
, Pluvialis dominica – the American and Pacific golden plovers were formerly considered conspecific (as "Lesser Golden Plover"; Sangster et al., 2002) - Grey PloverGrey PloverThe Grey Plover , known as the Black-bellied Plover in North America, is a medium-sized plover breeding in arctic regions. It is a long-distance migrant, with a nearly worldwide coastal distribution when not breeding....
or black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola - New Zealand DotterelNew Zealand DotterelThe New Zealand Dotterel, Red-breasted Plover, or New Zealand Plover is an endangered species found only in certain areas of New Zealand. Its Māori names include Tūturiwhatu, Pukunui, and Kūkuruatu...
or Red-breasted Plover, Charadrius obscurus - Common Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula
- Semipalmated PloverSemipalmated PloverThe Semipalmated Plover is a small plover.This species weighs and measures in length and across the wings. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband...
, Charadrius semipalmatus - Long-billed PloverLong-billed PloverThe Long-billed Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.- References...
, Charadrius placidus - Little Ringed PloverLittle Ringed PloverThe Little Ringed Plover is a small plover. Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill...
, Charadrius dubius - Wilson's PloverWilson's PloverThe Wilson's Plover is a small plover.Wilson's Plover is a coastal wader which breeds on both coasts of the Americas from the equator northwards. Its range extends north to include much of the U.S. eastern seaboard, and the Pacific coast of Mexico on the west.It is a partial migrant. Birds leave...
, Charadrius wilsonia - KilldeerKilldeerThe Killdeer is a medium-sized plover.Adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. They have an orange-red eyering...
, Charadrius vociferus - Piping PloverPiping PloverThe Piping Plover is a small sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebird that nests and feeds along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. The adult has yellow-orange legs, a black band across the forehead from eye to eye, and a black ring around the neck...
, Charadrius melodus - Madagascar PloverMadagascar PloverThe Madagascar Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is also called the Black-banded Plover.It is endemic to Madagascar....
, Charadrius thoracicus - Kittlitz's PloverKittlitz's PloverThe Kittlitz’s Plover is a small plover found in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the Nile delta. Some birds, especially in coastal areas, are resident, other populations are migratory or nomadic.-Description:...
, Charadrius pecuarius - Saint Helena Plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae
- Three-banded PloverThree-banded PloverThe Three-banded Plover or Three-banded Sandplover, Charadrius tricollaris, is a small wader. This plover is resident in much of eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar, mainly on inland rivers, pools and lakes. Its nest is a bare scrape on shingle.The adult Three-banded Plover is 18 cm in...
, Charadrius tricollaris - Forbes's PloverForbes's PloverThe Forbes’s Plover or Forbes’s Banded Plover, Charadrius forbesi, is a small wader. This plover is resident in much of west Africa, mainly on inland rivers, pools and lakes. Its nest is a scrape lined with small pebbles in rocky uplands. After breeding in the wet season, this bird moves to open...
, Charadrius forbesi - Kentish PloverKentish PloverThe Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus, is a small wader in the plover bird family. Despite its name, this species no longer breeds in Kent, or even Great Britain...
or Snowy Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus - Javan PloverJavan PloverThe Javan Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It is endemic to Indonesia.Its natural habitats are sandy shores and intertidal flats.It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
, Charadrius (alexandrinus) javanicus - White-fronted PloverWhite-fronted PloverThe White-fronted Plover or White-fronted Sandplover, Charadrius marginatus, is a small wader. This plover is resident in much of Africa south of the Sahara on rocky, sandy or muddy coasts and large inland rivers and lakes....
, Charadrius marginatus - Red-capped PloverRed-capped PloverThe Red-capped Plover , also known as the Red-capped Dotterel, is a small plover. It breeds in Australia. The species is closely related to the Kentish Plover, Javan Plover and White-fronted Plover.-Description:Red-capped Plovers have white underparts and forehead...
, Charadrius ruficapillus - Malaysian PloverMalaysian PloverThe Malaysian Plover is a small wader that nests on beaches and salt flats in Southeast Asia.-Description:...
, Charadrius peronii - Chestnut-banded PloverChestnut-banded PloverThe Chestnut-banded Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe....
, Charadrius pallidus - Collared PloverCollared PloverThe Collared Plover, Charadrius collaris, is a small shorebird in the plover family, Charadriidae. It lives along coasts and riverbanks of the tropical to temperate Americas, from central Mexico south to Chile and Argentina....
, Charadrius collaris - Puna PloverPuna PloverThe Puna Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes and saline marshes.-References:...
, Charadrius alticola - Double-banded PloverDouble-banded PloverThe Double-banded Plover , known as the Banded Dotterel in New Zealand, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It lives in beaches, mud flats, grasslands and on bare ground...
, Charadrius bicinctus - Two-banded PloverTwo-banded PloverThe Two-banded Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It breeds in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands...
, Charadrius falklandicus - Lesser Sand PloverLesser Sand PloverThe Lesser Sand Plover, Charadrius mongolus, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as Lesser Sandplover, but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is Lesser Sand Plover....
, Charadrius mongolus - Greater Sand PloverGreater Sand PloverThe Greater Sand Plover, Charadrius leschenaultii, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. The spelling is commonly given as "Greater sandplover", but the official British Ornithologists' Union spelling is "Greater sand plover"....
, Charadrius leschenaultii - Caspian PloverCaspian PloverThe Caspian Plover is a wader in the plover family of birds.It breeds on open grassland in central Asia, mainly to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. This bird breeds in loose colonies, with three eggs being laid in a ground nest. These birds migrate south in winter to east Africa, usually...
, Charadrius asiaticus - Oriental PloverOriental PloverThe Oriental Plover, Charadrius veredus, also known as the Oriental Dotterel, is a medium-sized Charadriine plover closely related to the Caspian Plover.- Description :...
, Charadrius veredus - Eurasian DotterelEurasian DotterelThe Eurasian Dotterel , or in Europe just Dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds.It breeds in the Arctic tundra of northern Eurasia, from Norway to eastern Siberia, and on suitable mountain plateaus such as the Scottish highlands and the Alps...
, Charadrius morinellus - Rufous-chested PloverRufous-chested PloverThe Rufous-chested Plover or Rufous-chested Dotterel is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family.It breeds in southern parts of Argentina and Chile and on the Falkland Islands...
, Charadrius modestus - Mountain PloverMountain PloverThe Mountain Plover is a medium-sized ground bird in the plover family . It is misnamed, as it lives on level land...
, Charadrius montanus - Hooded Dotterel, Thinornis rubricollis
- Shore Dotterel, Thinornis novaeseelandiae
- Black-fronted DotterelBlack-fronted DotterelThe Black-fronted Dotterel is a small, slender plover, widespread throughout most of Australia, to which it is native and New Zealand, where it self introduced in the 1950s. It is common in freshwater wetlands, around the edges of lakes and billabongs, and in shallow, temporary claypan pools...
, Elseyornis melanops - Inland DotterelInland DotterelThe Inland Dotterel also known as the Australian Dotterel and sometimes placed in the monotypic genus Peltohyas, is a medium-sized Charadriine plover.-Description:...
, Peltohyas australis - WrybillWrybillThe Wrybill or Ngutuparore Anarhynchus frontalis is a species of plover endemic to New Zealand. It is unique in that it is the only species of bird in the world with a beak that is bent sideways ....
, Anarhynchus frontalis - Diademed Plover, Phegornis mitchellii
- Tawny-throated DotterelTawny-throated DotterelThe Tawny-throated Dotterel is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is placed in the genus Oreopholus, which is monotypic as regards living species. A prehistoric relative, Oreopholus orcesi, has been described from fossil remains.It breeds in the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile...
, Oreopholus ruficollis
External links
- Plover videos, photographs & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection.