Charadrius

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Charadrius
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Cambridge, Maryland - 7033351019.jpg
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Charadriidae
Subfamily: Charadriinae
Genus: Charadrius
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Charadrius hiaticula (common ringed plover)
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

Synonyms

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.

Contents

Many Charadrius species are characterised by breast bands or collars. These can be (in the adult) single complete bands (ringed, semipalmated, little ringed, long-billed),or double or triple bands (killdeer, three-banded, Forbes').

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 genera Aegialites (or Aegialitis), Thinornis, and Elseyornis are now subsumed within Charadrius. The former genus name Thinornis combined the Ancient Greek this meaning "beach" or "sand" with ornis meaning "bird". [1]

Taxonomy

The genus Charadrius was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae . [2] The name had been used (as Charadrios sive Hiaticula) by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 for the common ringed plover. [3] 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"). [lower-alpha 1] [5] The type species is the common ringed plover. [6] However, it once appeared that the taxonomy of “Charadrius” was erroneous, as for example the Kentish plover is more closely related to lapwings than it is to, say, the greater ringed plover. Hence, either all members of Charadriidae, excluding Pluvialis are grouped in a single genus, Charadrius, or the genus is reduced to the Common ringed plover, Piping plover, Semipalmated plover, and Killdeer. [7] The latter option was chosen.

Species

The genus originally contained 33 species. However, in December 2023, The International Ornithologists' Union incorporated all species under Thinornis and Elseyornis into Charadrius, and some species of Charadrius are now placed in the genus Anarhynchus . As a result, Charadrius now consists of only 11 species: [8]

Another species, the Auckland Islands shore plover (Charadrius (Thinornis) rossii), known from just one specimen collected in 1840, is now generally considered to be a juvenile shore plover whose location was incorrectly recorded. [9]

Notes

  1. Leviticus Chapter 11 Verse 19. [4]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killdeer</span> Shorebird found in the Americas

The killdeer is a large plover found in the Americas. It gets its name from its shrill, two-syllable call, which is often heard. It was described and given its current scientific name in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. Three subspecies are described. Its upperparts are mostly brown with rufous fringes, the head has patches of white and black, and two black bands cross the breast. The belly and the rest of the breast are white. The nominate subspecies breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Canada to Mexico. It is seen year-round in the southern half of its breeding range; the subspecies C. v. ternominatus is resident in the West Indies, and C. v. peruvianus inhabits Peru and surrounding South American countries throughout the year. North American breeders winter from their resident range south to Central America, the West Indies, and the northernmost portions of South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-fronted dotterel</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semipalmated plover</span> Species of bird

The semipalmated plover is a small plover. Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys. The specific semipalmatus is Latin and comes from semi, "half" and palma, "palm". Like the English name, this refers to its only partially webbed feet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common ringed plover</span> Species of bird

The common ringed plover or ringed plover is a small plover that breeds across much of northern Eurasia, as well as Greenland. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys. The specific hiaticula is Latin and has a similar meaning to the Greek term, coming from hiatus, "cleft" and -cola, "dweller".

<i>Tringa</i> Genus of birds

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">European golden plover</span> Species of bird

The European golden plover, also known as the European golden-plover, Eurasian golden plover, or just the golden plover within Europe, is a relatively large species of plover. This species is similar to two other golden plovers: the American golden plover, Pluvialis dominica, and Pacific golden plover, Pluvialis fulva, which are both smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than European golden plover, and both have grey rather than white axillary feathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little ringed plover</span> Species of bird

The little ringed plover is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in river valleys. The specific dubius is Latin for doubtful, since Sonnerat, writing in 1776, thought this bird might be just a variant of common ringed plover.

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The Eurasian dotterel, also known in Europe as just dotterel, is a small wader in the plover family of birds. It is the only species placed in the genus Eudromias.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spur-winged lapwing</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shore plover</span> Species of bird

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<i>Anarhynchus</i>

Anarhynchus is a genus of plovers consisting of 24 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded plover</span> Species of bird

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References

  1. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 384. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  2. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 150.
  3. Aldrovandi, Ulisse (1599). Vlyssis Aldrovandi philosophi ac medici Bononiensis historiam naturalem in gymnasio Bononiensi profitentis, Ornithologiae (in Latin). Vol. 1. Bononiae (Bologna, Italy): Franciscum de Franciscis Senensem. pp. 536–537, Lib. 20 Cap. 67.
  4. Anonymous (1592). Biblia sacra vulgatae editionis (in Latin). Rome: Ex. Typographica Apostolica Vaticana. p. 92, Leviticus Chapter 11 Verse 19.
  5. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 99. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 245.
  7. Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (24 September 2023). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)". bioRxiv. doi:10.1101/2021.07.15.452585.
  8. International Ornithologists' Union. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela (eds.). "IOC World Bird List 14.1" (xlsx). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  9. Gill, Brian J.; Bell, B. D.; Chambers, G. K.; Medway, D. G.; Palma, R. L.; Scofield, R. P.; Tennyson, A. J. D.; Worthy, T. H. (2010). Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand (4th ed.). Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. ISBN   978-1-877385-59-9.

Further reading