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Genus Charadrius
Snowy plover - It breeds in most subtropical and tropical parts of the world, from southern Europe to Japan and in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, the southern USA and the Caribbean. The two races which breed in the Americas are collectively called Snowy Plover. The western snowy plover breeds from Texas and Oklahoma west to California and up the coastline to Oregon and Washington, with the coastal form's primary breeding concentration in central and southern California. The Pacific Coast population has been designated a Threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
Caspian Plover - It breeds on open grassland in central Asia, mainly to the north and east of the Caspian Sea. This bird breeds in loose colonies, with three eggs being laid in a ground nest. These birds migrate south in winter to east Africa, usually still on grassland or arable. This plover is a very rare vagrant in western Europe. It is also a rare vagrant to Australia.
Charadrius australis - Unmistakable. Upperparts generally buff mottled with dark brown. Face pale but marked by vertical black band crossing eye and fore-crown. Underparts generally buff and white, marked with distinctice black Y on breast, forming collar on hind-neck, and joined to black band on belly separating white lower belly from rich buff lower breast and flanks. Measurements: length 19-23 cm; wingspan 43-47 cm; weight 80 g.
Double-banded Plover - Adults in breeding plumage are white, with a dark greyish brown back, and have a distinctive brown breast, with a thinner band of black below the neck, and between the eyes and beak. Younger birds have no bands, and are often speckled brown on top, with less white parts.
Collared Plover - This small plover is 18 centimetres long and weighs 35 grams . Its upperparts are brown and the underparts white in all plumages. Adults have a black breast band. The male has a white forehead, bordered above by a black frontal bar, and below by a black stripe from the bill to the eye. The midcrown and nape are chestnut and the legs are yellow. In flight, the flight feathers are dark with a white wing bar, and the tail shows white sides.
Little Ringed Plover - Adults have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes with white above and a short dark bill. The legs are flesh-coloured and the toes are all webbed.
Two-banded Plover - The Two-banded Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It breeds in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands. Part of the population migrates north in winter with some birds reaching Uruguay and southern Brazil. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, saline marshes, rocky shores, and sandy shores.
Forbes's Plover - The adult Forbes’ Plover is 20 cm in length. It has long wings and a long tail, and therefore looks different from most other small plovers in flight, the exception being the closely related Three-banded Plover which replaces it in eastern and southern Africa and Madagascar.
Ringed Plover - Adults are 17-19.5 cm in length with a 35-41 cm wingspan. They have a grey-brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with one black neckband. They have a brown cap, a white forehead, a black mask around the eyes and a short orange and black bill. The legs are orange and only the outer two toes are slightly webbed, unlike the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar Semipalmated Plover, which has all three toes slightly webbed, and also a marginally narrower breast band; it was in former times included in the present species. Juvenile Ringed Plovers are duller than the adults in colour, with an often incomplete grey-brown breast band, a dark bill and dull yellowish-grey legs.
Javan Plover - Its natural habitats are sandy shores and intertidal flats. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Greater Sandplover - It breeds in the semi-deserts of Turkey and eastwards through central Asia. It nests in a bare ground scrape. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in east Africa, south Asia and Australasia. It is a rare vagrant in western Europe, where it has been recorded as far west as Great Britain and France. It has been spotted twice in the Western Hemisphere, the most recent being on May 14, 2009, in Jacksonville, Florida.
White-fronted Plover - Adults are 16–18 cm in length, and are paler than similar species. The breeding adult has medium brown upperparts, with a white hind neck collar and a brilliant white forehead extending back in a conspicuous wedge between the eye and the crown. There is a black line through the eye and a black frontal bar to the crown. The underparts are white with a variable cream or buff wash to the breast. There may be rufous patches on the breast sides. The bill is black and the legs yellowish-grey.
Piping Plover - There are 2 subspecies of Piping Plovers: the eastern population is known as Charadrius melodus melodus and the mid-west population is known as Charadrius melodus circumcinctus. The bird's name is derived from its plaintive bell-like whistles which are often heard before the bird is visible.
Rufous-chested Plover - The Rufous-chested Plover or Rufous-chested Dotterel is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It breeds in southern parts of Argentina and Chile and on the Falkland Islands. Some birds migrate north in winter, reaching as far as Uruguay, southern Brazil and occasionally Peru. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and sandy shores.
Lesser Sand Plover - There are five races, and the large east Asian forms, C. m. mongolus and C. m. stegmanni, are sometimes given specific status as Mongolian Plover, Charadrius mongolus. If the taxonomic split is accepted, Lesser Sandplover as then defined becomes Charadrius atrifrons, including the three races atrifrons, pamirensis and schaeferi.
Mountain plover - The Mountain Plover is 8 to 9.5 inches long and weighs about 3.7 ounces . In appearance it is typical of Charadrius plovers, except that unlike most, it has no band across the breast. The upperparts are sandy brown and the underparts and face are whitish. There are black feathers on the forecrown and a black stripe from each eye to the bill ; otherwise the plumage is plain. The Mountain Plover is much quieter than its more familiar relative the Killdeer. Its calls are variable, often low-pitched trilled or gurgling whistles. In courtship it makes a sound much like a far-off cow mooing.
New Zealand Dotterel - New Zealand Dotterels are shorebirds and are usually found on sandy beaches and sandspits or feeding on tidal estuaries.
Chestnut-banded Plover - It is found in Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Kittlitz's Plover - The adult Kittlitz’s Plover is 14–16 cm long. In breeding plumage it has a grey-brown back, crown and wings, an orange breast shading to white on the lower belly, and long dark grey legs. The forehead and throat are white, with black lores and a black frontal bar, the latter extending as a stripe down the sides of the neck and around the hind neck.
Malaysian Plover - The Malaysian Plover is 15 cm in length. The male can be recognized by a thin black band around the neck; the female has a thin brown band. Its legs are pale. Its voice is a soft twit.
Long-billed Plover - The Long-billed Plover is a species of bird in the Charadriidae family. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Red-capped Plover - Red-capped Plovers have white underparts and forehead. Their upperparts are mainly grey-brown. Adult males have a rufous crown and hindneck. Adult females have a paler rufous and grey brown crown and hindneck, with pale loral stripe. The upperwing of Charadrius ruficapillus shows dark brown remiges and primary coverts with a white wingbar in flight. Its length is 14-16 cm and its wingspan is 27-34 cm; weight 35-40 g.
St. Helena Plover - The bird was first mentioned in 1638, and is the national bird of Saint Helena, featured on the island's coat of arms.
Semi-palmated Plover - The Semipalmated Plover is a small plover.
Black-banded Plover - Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, sandy shores, intertidal marshes, and coastal saline lagoons. It is the world's smallest plover, at 25 g and 14 cm .
Three-banded Plover - The adult Three-banded Plover is 18 cm in length. It has long wings and a long tail, and therefore looks different from most other small plovers in flight, the exception being the closely related Forbes's Plover which replaces it in west Africa.
Oriental Plover - Adult male in breeding plumage: white face, throat and fore-crown; grey-brown hind-crown, hind-neck and back; belly white, demarcated with narrow black band and then broad chestnut breast band merging into white throat. Female, juvenile and non-breeding male: generally grey-brown upperparts and white belly; pale face with white streak above eye. Measurements: length 21-25 cm; wingspan 46-53 cm; weight 95 g.
Killdeer Plover - The killdeer is a medium-sized plover.
Wilson's plover - Wilson's Plover is a coastal wader which breeds on both coasts of the Americas from the equator northwards. Its range extends north to include much of the US.