Thefamily Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologistWilliam Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of theBritish Museum published in 1820.[1][2] Most members of the family are known asplovers,lapwings ordotterels. These were rather vague terms which were not applied with any great consistency in the past. In general, larger, broader-winged species have often been calledlapwings, and the smaller, narrower-winged speciesplovers ordotterels. Until recently, it was thought these formed two major clear taxonomic sub-groups, with lapwings belong to the subfamilyVanellinae, and all but one of the plovers and dotterels toCharadriinae; the last one placed in a small third subfamilyPluvianellinae containing only the Magellanic plover.[3] Modern genetic evidence has however shown that this arrangement was polyphyletic, with in particular, many species traditionally placed in the plover genusCharadrius proving more closely related to the lapwings than they were to thetype species of that genus,Charadrius hiaticula;[4] as a result, those species have now been split out into the genusAnarhynchus (syn.Ochthodromus).[5] The third former 'subfamily' proved so completely unrelated to the other plovers that it has been removed from the Charadriidae altogether and given its own monotypic familyPluvianellidae, its closest relatives being the strikingly differentsheathbills.[4]
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 themasked lapwing to avoid conflict with another bird with the same name; and the former 'sociable plover' is now thesociable lapwing.
They are small to medium-sizedbirds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings, but most species of lapwing have broader, more rounded wings. Their bill are usually straight (except for thewrybill) and short, their toes are short, hind toe can be reduced or absent, depending on species. Most Charadriidae also have relatively short tails, with the exception of thekilldeer. In most genera, the sexes are similar, very little sexual dimorphism occurs between sexes. They range in size from thecollared plover, at 26 grams and 14 cm (5.5 in), to themasked lapwing, at 368 grams (0.811 pounds) and 35 cm (14 in).
They are distributed through open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water, although there are some exceptions: theinland dotterel, for example, prefers stony ground in the deserts of central and western Australia,[6] and thekilldeer is often found in grasslands in North America.
They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders likesnipe do. Foods eaten include aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects, worms,molluscs andcrustaceans 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.
The vast majority of Charadriidae have a socially monogamous mating system. Some, such asNorthern lapwings, arepolygynous, others, such asmountain plovers have a rapid multiple-clutch system that can be accompanied by sequential polyandry. InEurasian dotterels, females compete for males and males provide allparental care.[3] While breeding, they defend their territories with highly visible aerial displays.[6]
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.[3] 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.[7]
Most Charadriidae are protective over their eggs and offspring. The parents protect their young by uttering an alarm call, performingdistraction display and they may even attack the predator or intruder. The chicks are precocial; their parents do not feed them.
^Bock, Walter J. (1994).History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. p. 137.hdl:2246/830.
^abcPiersma, T.; Wiersma, P. (1996)."Family Charadriidae (Plovers)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.).Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 384-443 [400-401].ISBN978-84-87334-20-7.
^abČerný, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.177: 107620.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620.
