Plover
| Plovers | |
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| Killdeer | |
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| Subfamily: | Charadriinae Leach, 1820
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Pluvialis | |
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Plovers (/ˈplʌvər/ or /ˈploʊvər/) are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae.
Description
There are about 66 species[1] 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, with the exception of the Sahara and the polar regions, and are characterised by relatively short bills. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like snipes 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.[2]
The plover group of birds has a distraction display 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.[3]
Species list in taxonomic order
- Genus Pluvialis
- European 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
- Genus Charadrius
- New Zealand plover or red-breasted plover, Charadrius obscurus
- Common 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
- Madagascan plover, Charadrius thoracicus
- Kittlitz's plover, Charadrius pecuarius
- Saint Helena plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae
- Three-banded plover, Charadrius tricollaris
- Forbes's plover, Charadrius forbesi
- Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
- Snowy plover, Charadrius nivosus, recently split by the AOU, some other committees still evaluating
- 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 plover, Charadrius modestus
- Mountain plover, Charadrius montanus
- Genus Thinornis
- Hooded dotterel, Thinornis rubricollis
- Shore dotterel, Thinornis novaeseelandiae
- Genus Elseyornis
- Black-fronted dotterel, Elseyornis melanops
- Genus Peltohyas
- Inland dotterel, Peltohyas australis
- Genus Anarhynchus
- Wrybill, Anarhynchus frontalis
- Genus Phegornis
- Diademed plover, Phegornis mitchellii
- Genus Oreopholus
- Tawny-throated dotterel, Oreopholus ruficollis
References
- ^ Coomber, Richard (1991). "Charadriiformes: Plovers". Birds of the World. Godalming, Surrey: Colour Library Books Ltd. pp. 97–100. ISBN 0862838061.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Perrins, Christopher (2004). The New Encyclopedia of Birds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ "What do you call a group of ...?". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
- Sangster, G.; Knox, A. G.; Helbig, A. J.; Parkin, D. T. (2002). "Taxonomic recommendations for European birds". Ibis. 144 (1): 153–159. doi:10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x.
External links
Media related to Charadriinae at Wikimedia Commons- Plover videos, photographs & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection.
