Plover

For other uses, see Plover (disambiguation).
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.

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

References

  1. ↑ Coomber, Richard (1991). "Charadriiformes: Plovers". Birds of the World. Godalming, Surrey: Colour Library Books Ltd. pp. 97–100. ISBN 0862838061.
  2. ↑ Perrins, Christopher (2004). The New Encyclopedia of Birds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  3. ↑ "What do you call a group of ...?". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
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