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Plovers
Hooded dotterel (Thinornis rubricollis)
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 Vandenberg, CA

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

The plover group of birds has a distraction display subcategorized as false brooding. Examples include: pretending to change position or 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.^[4]

Species list in taxonomic order

• Genus Anarhynchus
  
  • 
    Wrybill, Anarhynchus frontalis
    


• Genus Charadrius
  
  • 
    Caspian plover, Charadrius asiaticus
    
  
  
  • 
    Chestnut-banded plover, Charadrius pallidus
    
  
  
  • 
    Collared plover, Charadrius collaris
    
  
  
  • 
    Common ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula
    
  
  
  • 
    Double-banded plover, Charadrius bicinctus
    
  
  
  • 
    Eurasian dotterel, Charadrius morinellus
    
  
  
  • 
    Forbes's plover, Charadrius forbesi
    
  
  
  • 
    Greater sand plover, Charadrius leschenaultii
    
  
  
  • 
    Javan plover, Charadrius (alexandrinus) javanicus
    
  
  
  • 
    Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
    
  
  
  • 
    Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus
    
  
  
  • 
    Kittlitz's plover, Charadrius pecuarius
    
  
  
  • 
    Lesser sand plover, Charadrius mongolus
    
  
  
  • 
    Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius
    
  
  
  • 
    Long-billed plover, Charadrius placidus
    
  
  
  • 
    Madagascan plover, Charadrius thoracicus
    
  
  
  • 
    Malaysian plover, Charadrius peronii
    
  
  
  • 
    Mountain plover, Charadrius montanus
    
  
  
  • 
    New Zealand plover or red-breasted plover, Charadrius obscurus
    
  
  
  • 
    Oriental plover, Charadrius veredus
    
  
  
  • 
    Piping plover, Charadrius melodus
    
  
  
  • 
    Puna plover, Charadrius alticola
    
  
  
  • 
    Red-capped plover, Charadrius ruficapillus
    
  
  
  • 
    Rufous-chested plover, Charadrius modestus
    
  
  
  • 
    Saint Helena plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae
    
  
  
  • 
    Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus
    
  
  
  • 
    Snowy plover, Charadrius nivosus, recently split by the AOU, some other committees still evaluating
  
  
  • 
    Three-banded plover, Charadrius tricollaris
    
  
  
  • 
    Two-banded plover, Charadrius falklandicus
    
  
  
  • 
    White-fronted plover, Charadrius marginatus
    
  
  
  • 
    Wilson's plover, Charadrius wilsonia
    
  
  


• Genus Elseyornis
  
  • 
    Black-fronted dotterel, Elseyornis melanops
    


• Genus Oreopholus
  
  • 
    Tawny-throated dotterel, Oreopholus ruficollis
    


• Genus Peltohyas
  
  • 
    Inland dotterel, Peltohyas australis
    


• Genus Phegornis
  
  • 
    Diademed plover, Phegornis mitchellii
    


• Genus Pluvialis
  
  • 
    American golden plover, Pluvialis dominica – the American and Pacific golden plovers were formerly considered conspecific (as "lesser golden plover"; Sangster et al., 2002)
  
  
  • 
    European golden plover, Pluvialis apricaria
    
  
  
  • 
    Grey plover or black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola
    
  
  
  • 
    Pacific golden plover, Pluvialis fulva
    
  
  


• Genus Thinornis
  
  • 
    Hooded dotterel, Thinornis rubricollis
    
  
  
  • 
    Shore dotterel, Thinornis novaeseelandiae
    
  
  

In folklore

The Golden plover^[5] spends summers in Iceland, and in Icelandic folklore, the appearance of the first plover in country means that spring has arrived. The Icelandic media always covers the first plover sighting, which in 2017, took place on March 27, 2017.^[6]

References

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Charadriinae

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charadriinae.

• 
  Plover videos, photographs & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection.