Plover
Pluvialis
Charadrius
Thinornis
Elseyornis
Peltohyas
Anarhynchus
Phegornis
Oreopholus
Plovers (/ˈplʌvər/ or /ˈploʊvər/) 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". The closely related lapwing subfamily, Vanellinae, comprises another 20-odd species.
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 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.
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.
Read more about Plover: Species List in Taxonomic Order
Famous quotes containing the word plover:
“She had never known before how much the country meant to her. The chirping of the insects in the long grass had been like the sweetest music. She had felt as if her heart were hiding down there, somewhere, with the quail and the plover and all the little wild things that crooned or buzzed in the sun. Under the long shaggy ridges, she felt the future stirring.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)