View source for Plover

{{short description|Family of birds}}
{{other uses|Plover (disambiguation)}}
{{automatic taxobox
| name = Plovers
| image = Thinornis rubricollis - Orford.jpg
| image_caption = [[Hooded dotterel]] (''Charadrius cucullatus'')
| taxon = Charadriinae
| authority = [[William Elford Leach|Leach]], 1820
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
| subdivision = see the table
<!--''[[Charadrius]]'' <br/>
''[[Pluvialis]]'' <br/>
''[[Thinornis]]'' <br/>
''[[Elseyornis]]'' <br/>
''[[Peltohyas]]'' <br/>
''[[Anarhynchus]]'' <br/>
''[[Phegornis]]'' <br/>
''[[Oreopholus]]''-->
}}
[[File:Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) W IMG 0104.jpg|thumb|Little ringed plover ''[[Charadrius dubius]]'' ]]
[[File:Kentish plover I2 IMG 9384.jpg|thumb|Kentish plover ''[[Anarhynchus alexandrinus]]'' ]]
[[File:Lesser Sand Ploverwith Sanderling I IMG 9382.jpg|thumb|[[Lesser sand plover]], ''Anarhynchus mongolus'' ]]
[[File:Plover at Vandenberg beach.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Snowy plover]], on the beach at Vandenberg, CA]]

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

==Description==

Plovers are found throughout the world, with the exception of the [[Sahara]] and the [[Polar regions of Earth|polar regions]], and are characterised by relatively short bills. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like [[snipe]]s 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==
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}}

{{Commons category|Plovers}}
{{Wikispecies|Charadriinae}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q139321}}

[[Category:Charadriinae|*]]

<!-- grossly out of date 
There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "[[Dotterel (disambiguation)|dotterel]]".<ref name=coomber>{{cite book|last=Coomber|first=Richard|title=Birds of the World|year=1991|publisher=Colour Library Books|location=Godalming, Surrey|isbn=978-0862838065|pages=[https://archive.org/details/photographicency0000coom/page/97 97–100]|chapter=Charadriiformes: Plovers|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/photographicency0000coom/page/97}}</ref>  The closely related [[lapwing]] subfamily, [[Vanellinae]], comprises about 20 species.<ref>{{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 (journal)|Ibis]] | volume = 144 | issue = 1| pages = 153–159 | doi = 10.1046/j.0019-1019.2001.00026.x }}</ref>
-->