Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Plovers Killdeer Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae Subfamily: Charadriinae Genera  Charadrius  Pluvialis  Anitibyx  Anarhynchus  Chettusia  Lobivanellus  Hoplopterus  Microsarcops Plovers are a widely distributed group of wading birds belonging to the subfamily Charadriinae. There are about 40 species in the subfamily, most of them called plover or dotterel and another 20-odd species of the closely related lapwings. Plovers are found throughout the world, and are characterised by relatively short bills. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like snipe do. Food is insects, worms or other invetebrates, depending on habitat, which are obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups. FAMILY CHARADRIIDAE Subfamily Vanellinae: lapwings, 24 species Subfamily Charadriinae: plovers Eurasian Golden Plover, Pluvialis apricaria Pacific Golden Plover, Pluvialis fulva American Golden Plover, Pluvialis dominica Grey Plover, Pluvialis squatarola Red-breasted Plover, Charadrius obscurus Ringed Plover, Charadrius hiaticula Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius semipalmatus Long-billed Plover, Charadrius placidus Little Ringed Plover, Charadrius dubius Wilson's Plover, Charadrius wilsonia Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus Piping Plover, Charadrius melodus Black-banded Plover, Charadrius thoracicus Kittlitz's Plover, Charadrius pecuarius St. Helena Plover, Charadrius sanctaehelenae Three-banded Plover, Charadrius tricollaris Forbes' Plover, Charadrius forbesi White-fronted Plover, Charadrius marginatus Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus Javan Plover, Charadrius javanicus Red-capped Plover, Charadrius ruficapillus Malaysian Plover, Charadrius peronii Chestnut-banded Plover, Charadrius pallidus Collared Plover, Charadrius collaris Puna Plover, Charadrius alticola Two-banded Plover, Charadrius falklandicus Double-banded Plover, Charadrius bicinctus Lesser Sandplover, Charadrius mongolus Greater Sandplover, Charadrius leschenaultii Caspian Plover, Charadrius asiaticus Oriental Plover, Charadrius veredus Eurasian Dotterel, Charadrius morinellus Rufous-chested Dotterel, Charadrius modestus Mountain Plover, Charadrius montanus Hooded Plover, Charadrius rubricollis Shore Plover, Charadrius novaeseelandiae Black-fronted Dotterel, Elseyornis melanops Inland Dotterel, Peltohyas australis Wrybill, Anarhynchus frontalis Diademed Plover, Phegornis mitchellii Tawny-throated Dotterel, Oreopholus ruficollis This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.