Charadrius is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. They are found throughout the world.

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

Many of the 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, 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.

Species in taxonomic order

• New Zealand Plover or Red-breasted 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
  

  

  Plover eggs laid on the ground
• Three-banded Plover, Charadrius tricollaris
• Forbes's Plover, Charadrius forbesi
• Kentish Plover, Charadrius alexandrinus
• Snowy Plover, Charadrius nivosus, recently split by the AOU, some other committees still evaluating
• Javan Plover, Charadrius (alexandrinus) 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, 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

References

• Hayman, Marchant and Prater, Shorebirds ISBN 0-87340-319-4

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