| Charadrius | |
|---|---|
| |
| Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| 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.
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]
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 384. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.