Charadrius

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. However, it appears that the taxonomy of “Charadrius” may be erroneous, as for example the Kentish plover is more closely related to lapwings than it is to, say, the greater ringed plover. Hence, the either all members of charadriidae, excluding Pluvialis are grouped in a single genus, Charadrius, or the genus is reduced to the Greater ringed plover, Piping plover, Semipalmated plover, and Killdeer.
Species
The genus in its current form contains 33 species, however if the IOC were to revise this taxonomy it may contain only four species.
Northern New Zealand dotterel, red-breasted plover or New Zealand plover, Anarhynchys aquilonius
Southern New Zealand dotterel, red-breasted plover or New Zealand plover, Anarynchus obscurus
Greater ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula
Semipalmated plover, Charadrius semipalmatus
Long-billed plover, Thinornis placidus
Little ringed plover, Thinornis dubius
Wilson's plover, Octhodromus wilsonia
Killdeer, Charadrius vociferus
Piping plover, Charadrius melodus
Madagascar plover, Octhodromus thoracicus
Kittlitz's plover, Octhodromus pecuarius
Saint Helena plover, Octhodromus sanctaehelenae
Three-banded plover, Afroxyechus tricollaris
Forbes's plover, Thinornis forbesi
Kentish plover, Octhodromus alexandrinus
White-faced plover, Octhodromus dealbatus
Snowy plover, Octhodromus nivosus
Javan plover, Octhodromus javanicus
White-fronted plover, Octhodromus marginatus
Red-capped plover, Octhodromus ruficapillus
Malaysian plover, Octhodromus peronii
Chestnut-banded plover, Octhodromus pallidus
Collared plover, Octhodromus collaris
Puna plover, Octhodromus alticola
Double-banded plover or banded dotterel (New Zealand), Anarhynchus bicinctus
Two-banded plover, Octhodromus falklandicus
Siberian sand plover, Eupoda mongola
Tibetan sand plover, Eupoda atrifrons
Desert sand plover, Charadrius leschenaultii
Caspian plover, Eupoda asiatica
Oriental plover, Eupoda veredus
Eurasian dotterel, Eudomias morinellus
Rufous-chested plover, Zonibyx modestus
Mountain plover, Octhodromus montanus
In December 2020, it was described in a paper that the Kentish plover subspecies O.a.seebohmi may be a new species, the Hanuman plover.
Gallery
Notes
References
Bird genera