Charadrius Bicinctus Breeding - Ralphs Bay

'' Charadrius '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate.
They are found throughout the world.

Many ''Charadrius'' species are characterised by breast bands or collars. These can be (in the adult) complete bands (ringed, semipalmated, little ringed, long-billed), double or triple bands (killdeer, three-banded, Forbes', two-banded, double-banded) or partial collars (Kentish, piping, snowy, Malaysian, Javan, red-capped, puna).

They have relatively short bills and 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. They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as do longer-billed waders like snipe.

Species of the genus ''Aegialites'' (or ''Aegialitis'') are now subsumed within ''Charadrius''.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Charadrius'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The name had been used (as ''Charadrios sive Hiaticula'') by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 for the common ringed plover. The word is Late Latin and is mentioned in the Vulgate Bible. It derives from the Ancient Greek χαραδριος''/kharadrios'', an unidentified plain-coloured nocturnal bird that was found in ravines and river valleys (from ''kharadra'', "ravine"). The type species is the common ringed plover.

Species

The genus contains 32 species.
* New Zealand dotterel, red-breasted plover or New Zealand plover, ''Charadrius obscurus''
* Common 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''
* Madagascar plover, ''Charadrius thoracicus''
* Kittlitz's plover, ''Charadrius pecuarius''
* Saint Helena plover, ''Charadrius sanctaehelenae''
* Three-banded plover, ''Charadrius tricollaris''
* Forbes's plover, ''Charadrius forbesi''
* Kentish plover, ''Charadrius alexandrinus''
* White-faced plover, ''Charadrius dealbatus''
* Snowy plover, ''Charadrius nivosus''
* Javan plover, ''Charadrius javanicus''
* White-fronted plover, ''Charadrius marginatus''
* Red-capped plover, ''Charadrius ruficapillus''
* Malaysian plover, ''Charadrius peronii''
* Chestnut-banded plover, ''Charadrius pallidus''
* Collared plover, ''Charadrius collaris''
* Puna plover, ''Charadrius alticola''
* Double-banded plover or banded dotterel (New Zealand), ''Charadrius bicinctus''
* Two-banded plover, ''Charadrius falklandicus''
* Lesser sand plover, ''Charadrius mongolus''
* Greater sand plover, ''Charadrius leschenaultii''
* Caspian plover, ''Charadrius asiaticus''
* Oriental plover, ''Charadrius veredus''
* Eurasian dotterel, ''Charadrius morinellus''
* Rufous-chested plover, ''Charadrius modestus''
* Mountain plover, ''Charadrius montanus''
In December 2020, it was described in a paper that the Kentish plover subspecies ''C.a.seebohmi'' may be a new species, the Hanuman plover.

Gallery

File:Charadrius alexandrinus 2.jpg, Kentish plover (''C. alexandrinus'')
File:Semipalmatedplover-santafeisland.jpg, Semipalmated plover (''C. semipalmatus'')
Eggs of Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris) right in the middle of the S59 Road (11926451373).jpg, Three-banded plover (''C. tricollaris'') eggs on open ground
File:Little ringed plover - chick.jpg, Little ringed plover (''C. dubius'') chick

Notes

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q736322

Bird genera