Plover

{{short description|Family of birds}} {{other uses|Plover (disambiguation)}} {{automatic taxobox | name = Plovers | image = {{Easy CSS image crop |image = Common ringed plover (Charadrius hiaticula) Oppdal.jpg |desired_width = 220 |crop_left_perc = 5 |crop_right_perc = 15 |crop_top_perc = 10 |crop_bottom_perc = 5 |alt = }}

| image_caption = Common ringed plover (''Charadrius hiaticula''), Norway | taxon = Charadriinae | authority = Leach, 1820 | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision = {{center|''See table''}}  }} [[File:Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) Cyprus.jpg|thumb|Kentish plover, Cyprus]] [[File:Little ringed plover (Charadrius dubius) in flight Malta.jpg|thumb|Little ringed plover, Norway]] [[File:Greater sand plover (Charadrius leschenaultii) Phang Nga.jpg|thumb|Greater sand plover, Thailand]] [[File:Pacific golden plover (Pluvialis fulva) non breeding Rarotonga.jpg|thumb|Pacific golden plover, Cook Islands]] [[File:Pied plover (Vanellus cayanus) in flight.JPG|thumb|Pied plover, Brazil]] [[File:White-fronted plover (Charadrius marginatus arenaceus) Maputo.jpg|thumb|White-fronted plover, Mozambique]] [[File:Three-banded plover (Charadrius tricollaris).jpg|thumb|Three-banded plover, Botswana]] [[File:Madagascar plover (Charadrius thoracicus).jpg|thumb|Madagascar plover, Madagascar]] '''Plovers''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|l|ʌ|v|ər}} {{respell|PLUV|ər}},<ref name=":0">{{cite dictionary|dictionary=Lexico|title=plover|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/plover|access-date=2022-01-18|archive-date=2022-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510233455/https://www.lexico.com/definition/plover|url-status=dead}}</ref> {{small|also}} {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|p|l|oʊ|v|ər}} {{respell|PLOH|vər}})<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of plover {{!}} Dictionary.com|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/plover|access-date=2022-02-14|website=www.dictionary.com|language=en}}</ref> are members of a widely distributed group of wading birds of the subfamily '''Charadriinae'''. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily,<ref name=":0" /> though only about half of them include it in their name.<ref name=":0" />

== Species list in taxonomic sequence == The taxonomy of family Charadriidae is unsettled. At various times the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings of family Charadriidae have been distributed among several subfamilies, with Charadriinae including most of the species. The International Ornithological Congress (IOC) and the Clements taxonomy do not assign species to subfamilies.<ref name=IOC14.2>{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/buttonquail/|title=Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes |website=IOC World Bird List | version= v 14.2 |last1=Gill |first1= F. |last2=Donsker|first2=D.|last3=Rasmussen |first3=P. |date=August 2024 |access-date=August 20, 2024 }}</ref><ref name="Clements2023">{{Cite web |title=2023 Citation & Downloadable Checklists – Clements Checklist |url=https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/introduction/updateindex/october-2023/download/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.birds.cornell.edu}}</ref> The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) includes all of the species in Charadriinae.<ref name="SACClist">{{Cite web |title=South American Classification Committee |url=https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.museum.lsu.edu}}</ref> The North American Classification Committee of the AOS and BirdLife International's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' separate the four members of genus ''Pluvialis'' as subfamily Pluvialinae.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal | last1 = Sangster | first1 = G. | last2 = Knox | first2 = A. G. | last3 = Helbig | first3 = A. J. | last4 = Parkin | first4 = D. T. | year = 2002 | title = Taxonomic recommendations for European birds | journal = Ibis | volume = 144 | issue = 1| pages = 153–159 | doi = 10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x }}</ref><ref name="NACC2024">{{Cite web |title=AOU Checklist of North and Middle American Birds |url=https://checklist.americanornithology.org/taxa/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=checklist.americanornithology.org}}</ref><ref name="HBW8">{{Cite web |title=Data Zone - BirdLife International |url=https://datazone.birdlife.org/home |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=datazone.birdlife.org}}</ref>

The IOC recognizes these 69 species of plovers, dotterels, and lapwings in family Charadriidae. They are distributed among 11 genera, some of which have only one species. This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial.<ref name=IOC14.2/>

{|class="wikitable sortable" !Common name!!Binomial name + authority!!data-sort-typan"number" |IOC sequence |- |Grey plover||''Pluvialis squatarola'' (Linnaeus, 1758)||1 |- |European golden plover||''Pluvialis apricaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758)||2 |- |Pacific golden plover||''Pluvialis fulva'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789)||3 |- |American golden plover||''Pluvialis dominica'' (Müller, PLS, 1776)||4 |- |Tawny-throated dotterel||''Oreopholus ruficollis'' (Wagler, 1829)||5 |- |Rufous-chested dotterel||''Zonibyx modestus'' Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823||6 |- |Diademed sandpiper-plover||''Phegornis mitchellii'' (Fraser, 1845)||7 |- |Eurasian dotterel||''Eudromias morinellus'' Linnaeus, 1758||8 |- |Killdeer||''Charadrius vociferus'' Linnaeus, 1758||9 |- |Common ringed plover||''Charadrius hiaticula'' Linnaeus, 1758||10 |- |Semipalmated plover||''Charadrius semipalmatus'' Bonaparte, 1825||11 |- |Piping plover||''Charadrius melodus'' Ord, 1824||12 |- |Hooded dotterel||''Charadrius cucullatus'' (Vieillot, 1818)||13 |- |Forbes's plover||''Charadrius forbesi'' (Shelley, 1883)||14 |- |Three-banded plover||''Charadrius tricollaris'' Vieillot, 1818||15 |- |Black-fronted dotterel||''Charadrius melanops'' (Vieillot, 1818)||16 |- |Shore plover||''Charadrius novaeseelandiae'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789)||17 |- |Little ringed plover||''Charadrius dubius'' Scopoli, 1786||18 |- |Long-billed plover||''Charadrius placidus'' Gray, JE & Gray, GR, 1863||19 |- |Pied plover||''Hoploxypterus cayanus'' (Latham, 1790)||20 |- |Northern lapwing||''Vanellus vanellus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)||21 |- |Long-toed lapwing||''Vanellus crassirostris'' (Hartlaub, 1855)||22 |- |Blacksmith lapwing||''Vanellus armatus'' (Burchell, 1822)||23 |- |Spur-winged lapwing||''Vanellus spinosus'' (Linnaeus, 1758)||24 |- |River lapwing||''Vanellus duvaucelii'' (Lesson, RP, 1826)||25 |- |Yellow-wattled lapwing||''Vanellus malabaricus'' (Boddaert, 1783)||26 |- |Black-headed lapwing||''Vanellus tectus'' (Boddaert, 1783)||27 |- |White-crowned lapwing||''Vanellus albiceps'' Gould, 1834||28 |- |Senegal lapwing||''Vanellus lugubris'' (Lesson, RP, 1826)||29 |- |Black-winged lapwing||''Vanellus melanopterus'' (Cretzschmar, 1829)||30 |- |Crowned lapwing||''Vanellus coronatus'' (Boddaert, 1783)||31 |- |African wattled lapwing||''Vanellus senegallus'' (Linnaeus, 1766)||32 |- |Spot-breasted lapwing||''Vanellus melanocephalus'' (Rüppell, 1845)||33 |- |Brown-chested lapwing||''Vanellus superciliosus'' (Reichenow, 1886)||34 |- |Grey-headed lapwing||''Vanellus cinereus'' (Blyth, 1842)||35 |- |Red-wattled lapwing||''Vanellus indicus'' (Boddaert, 1783)||36 |- |Javan lapwing||''Vanellus macropterus'' (Wagler, 1827)||37 |- |Banded lapwing||''Vanellus tricolor'' (Vieillot, 1818)||38 |- |Masked lapwing||''Vanellus miles'' (Boddaert, 1783)||39 |- |Sociable lapwing||''Vanellus gregarius'' (Pallas, 1771)||40 |- |White-tailed lapwing||''Vanellus leucurus'' (Lichtenstein, MHC, 1823)||41 |- |Southern lapwing||''Vanellus chilensis'' (Molina, 1782)||42 |- |Andean lapwing||''Vanellus resplendens'' (Tschudi, 1843)||43 |- |Red-kneed dotterel||''Erythrogonys cinctus'' Gould, 1838||44 |- |Inland dotterel||''Peltohyas australis'' (Gould, 1841)||45 |- |Caspian plover||''Anarhynchus asiaticus'' Pallas, 1773||46 |- |Oriental plover||''Anarhynchus veredus'' Gould, 1848||47 |- |Tibetan sand plover||''Anarhynchus atrifons'' (Wagler, 1829)||48 |- |Siberian sand plover||''Anarhynchus mongolus'' Pallas, 1776||49 |- |Greater sand plover||''Anarhynchus leschenaultii'' Lesson, RP, 1826||50 |- |Double-banded plover||''Anarhynchus bicinctus'' Jardine & Selby, 1827||51 |- |Wrybill||''Anarhynchus frontalis'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1832||52 |- |New Zealand plover||''Anarhynchus obscurus'' Gmelin, JF, 1789||53 |- |Wilson's plover||''Anarhynchus wilsonia'' Ord, 1814||54 |- |Collared plover||''Anarhynchus collaris'' Vieillot, 1818||55 |- |Mountain plover||''Anarhynchus montanus'' Townsend, JK, 1837||56 |- |Puna plover||''Anarhynchus alticola'' (Berlepsch & Stolzmann, 1902)||57 |- |Two-banded plover||''Anarhynchus falklandicus'' Latham, 1790||58 |- |Madagascar plover||''Anarhynchus thoracicus'' (Richmond, 1896)||59 |- |Kittlitz's plover||''Anarhynchus pecuarius'' Temminck, 1823||60 |- |St. Helena plover||''Anarhynchus sanctaehelenae'' (Harting, 1873)||61 |- |Red-capped plover||''Anarhynchus ruficapillus'' Temminck, 1821||62 |- |Snowy plover||''Anarhynchus nivosus'' (Cassin, 1858)||63 |- |Chestnut-banded plover||''Anarhynchus pallidus'' Strickland, 1853||64 |- |Malaysian plover||''Anarhynchus peronii'' Schlegel, 1865||65 |- |White-fronted plover||''Anarhynchus marginatus'' Vieillot, 1818||66 |- |Javan plover||''Anarhynchus javanicus'' Chasen, 1938||67 |- |Kentish plover||''Anarhynchus alexandrinus'' Linnaeus, 1758||68 |- |White-faced plover||''Anarhynchus dealbatus'' (Swinhoe, 1870)||69 |- |-class="sortbottom" |}

== Description == 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 the habitat, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups.<ref name=oxford>{{cite book | last = Perrins | first = Christopher | author-link = Christopher Perrins | title = The New Encyclopedia of Birds | publisher = Oxford U. P. | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-19-852506-6 }} {{page needed|date=January 2019}}</ref> Plovers engage in false brooding, a type of distraction display. Examples include pretending to change position or to sit on an imaginary nest site.

== In folklore == [[File:European golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria) female breeding Keflavik.jpg|thumb|female European golden plover, Iceland]] The European golden plover<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icenews.is/2017/03/27/the-golden-plover-has-arrived-indicating-spring-in-iceland/ |title=The Golden Plover has arrived, indicating spring in Iceland |date=March 27, 2017 |website=IceNews - Daily News |access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref> spends summers in Iceland, and in Icelandic folklore, the appearance of the first plover in the country means that spring has arrived. The Icelandic media always covers the first plover sighting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2017/03/27/spring_has_arrived_in_iceland_according_to_folklore/|title=Spring has arrived in Iceland, according to folklore |website=mbl.is|access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>

== See also == *Egyptian plover

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{Commons category-inline|Plovers}} * {{Wikispecies-inline|Charadriinae}}