Ajay Kumar at 20:34, 30 August 2023

2023-08-30T20:34:26Z

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{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Snowy_Plover_Morro_Strand.jpg
| image_caption = [[Snowy plover]]<br />(''Charadrius nivosus'')
| taxon = Charadriidae
| authority = [[William Elford Leach|Leach]], 1820
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision =
* [[Vanellinae]]
** ''[[Erythrogonys]]''
** ''[[Vanellus]]''
* [[Charadriinae]]
** ''[[Pluvialis]]''
** ''[[Charadrius]]''
** ''[[Thinornis]]''
** ''[[Elseyornis]]''
** ''[[Peltohyas]]''
** ''[[Anarhynchus]]''
** ''[[Phegornis]]''
** ''[[Oreopholus]]''
}}

The bird family '''Charadriidae''' includes the [[plover]]s, [[Dotterel (disambiguation)|dotterel]]s, and [[lapwing]]s, The family contains 69 [[species]] that are divided into 10 [[genera]].

== Taxonomy ==
The [[family (biology)|family]] Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologist [[William Elford Leach]] in a guide to the contents of the [[British Museum]] published in 1820.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Leach | first=William Elford | author-link=William Elford Leach | year=1820 | chapter=Eleventh Room | title=Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum | volume=17 | place=London | publisher=British Museum | edition=17th| page=69 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55257930 }} Although the name of the author is not specified in the document, Leach was the Keeper of Zoology at the time.</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Bock | first=Walter J. | year=1994 | title=History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names | series=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume= Number 222 | publisher=American Museum of Natural History | place=New York | page=137 | hdl=2246/830 }}</ref> Most members of the family are known as ''plovers'', ''lapwings'' or ''dotterels''. These were rather vague terms which were not applied with any great consistency in the past. In general, larger species have often been called ''lapwings'', smaller species ''plovers'' or ''dotterels'' and there are in fact two clear taxonomic sub-groups: most lapwings belong to the subfamily [[Vanellinae]], most plovers and dotterels to [[Charadriinae]].

The trend in recent years has been to rationalise the common names of the Charadriidae. For example, the large and very common Australian bird traditionally known as the ‘spur-winged plover’, is now the [[masked lapwing]]; the former ‘sociable plover’ is now the [[sociable lapwing]].

==Description==
They are small to medium-sized [[bird]]s with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings, but most species of lapwing may have more rounded wings. Their bill are usually straight (except for the [[wrybill]]) and short, their toes are short, hind toe could be reduced or absent, depending on species. Most Charadriidae also have relatively short tails, with the exception of the [[killdeer]]. In most genera, the sexes are similar, very little sexual dimorphism occurs between sexes. They range in size from the [[collared plover]], at 26 grams and {{convert|14|cm|in|abbr=on}}, to the [[masked lapwing]], at {{convert|368|g|lb|abbr=off}} and {{convert|35|cm|in|abbr=on}}.

==Distribution and habitat==
They are distributed through open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water, although there are some exceptions: the [[inland dotterel]], for example, prefers stony ground in the deserts of central and western Australia,<ref name=EoB>{{cite book |editor=Forshaw, Joseph|author= Harrison, Colin J.O.|year=1991|title=Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds|publisher= Merehurst Press|location=London|pages= 105|isbn= 1-85391-186-0}}</ref> and the [[killdeer]] is often found in grasslands in North America.

==Behaviour and ecology==
They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like [[snipe]] do. Foods eaten include aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects, worms, [[molluscs]] and [[crustaceans]] depending on habitat, and are usually obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups. They also feed on plant material.

===Breeding===
The vast majority of [[Charadriinae|Charadriidae]] have a socially monogamous mating system. Some, such as [[Northern lapwing]]s, are [[Polygyny in animals|polygynous]], others, such as [[mountain plover]]s have a rapid multiple-clutch system that can be accompanied by sequential polyandry. In [[Eurasian dotterel]]s, females compete for males and males provide all [[parental care]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3, Hoatzin to Auks|last=Piersma|first=Theunis|publisher=Lynx Edicions|year=1996|isbn=84-87334-20-2|editor-last=del Hoyo|editor-first=Joseph|location=Barcelona|pages=[https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/400 400–401]|chapter=Family Charadriidae (Plovers)|editor-last2=Elliott|editor-first2=Andrew|editor-last3=Sargatal|editor-first3=Jordi|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/400}}</ref> While breeding, they defend their territories with highly visible aerial displays.<ref name="EoB" />

Charadridae lay two to four eggs into the nest, which is usually a shallow scrape in the open ground, and incubate the clutch for 21–30 days.<ref name=":0" /> In species where both parents incubate the eggs, females and males vary in the way they share their incubation duties, both within and between species. In some pairs, parents exchange on the nest in the morning and in the evening so that their incubation rhythm follows 24-hour day, in others females and males exchange up to 20 times a day.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bulla|first1=Martin|last2=Valcu|first2=Mihai|last3=Dokter|first3=Adriaan M.|last4=Dondua|first4=Alexei G.|last5=Kosztolányi|first5=András|last6=Rutten|first6=Anne L.|last7=Helm|first7=Barbara|last8=Sandercock|first8=Brett K.|last9=Casler|first9=Bruce|title=Unexpected diversity in socially synchronized rhythms of shorebirds|journal=Nature|volume=540|issue=7631|pages=109–113|doi=10.1038/nature20563|pmid=27880762|year=2016|bibcode=2016Natur.540..109B|s2cid=4390453|url=http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/87/296887.pdf}}</ref>

[[Charadriinae|Charadriidae]] are protective over their eggs and offspring. The parents protect their young by uttering an alarm call, performing [[distraction display]] and they may even attack the predator or intruder. The chicks are precocial; their parents do not feed them.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Charadriidae}}
*[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/plovers-charadriidae Charadriidae videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP8ITIDaFZHW68z7KaTyDew Incubating Charadriidae videos] in Incubating shorebirds

{{Taxonbar|from=Q28449}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Charadriidae| ]]
[[Category:Bird families]]

Charadriidae - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 20:34, 30 August 2023