Plover

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

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

  1. ↑ Coomber, Richard (1991). "Charadriiformes: Plovers". Birds of the World. Godalming, Surrey: Colour Library Books Ltd. pp. 97–100. ISBN 0862838061.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Perrins, Christopher (2004). The New Encyclopedia of Birds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  4. ↑ "What do you call a group of ...?". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 19 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "The Golden Plover has arrived, indicating spring in Iceland - IceNews - Daily News". www.icenews.is. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Spring has arrived in Iceland, according to folklore". mbl.is. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
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