thumb|[[Kentish plover, Cyprus]]

thumb|[[Little ringed plover, Norway]]

thumb|[[Greater sand plover, Thailand]]

thumb|[[Pacific golden plover, Cook Islands]]

thumb|[[Pied plover, Brazil]]

thumb|[[White-fronted plover, Mozambique]]

thumb|[[Three-banded plover, Botswana]]

thumb|[[Madagascar plover, Madagascar]]

Plovers ( , ) are members of a widely distributed group of wading birds of the subfamily Charadriinae. The term "plover" applies to all the members of the subfamily, The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society (AOS) includes all of the species in Charadriinae. The North American Classification Committee of the AOS and BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World separate the four members of genus Pluvialis as subfamily Pluvialinae.

The IOC recognizes these 69 species of plovers, dotterels, and lapwings in family Charadriidae. They are distributed among 11 genera, some of which have only one species. This list is presented according to the IOC taxonomic sequence and can also be sorted alphabetically by common name and binomial. Plovers engage in false brooding, a type of distraction display. Examples include pretending to change position or to sit on an imaginary nest site.

In folklore

thumb|female [[European golden plover, Iceland]]

The European golden plover spends summers in Iceland, and in Icelandic folklore, the appearance of the first plover in the country means that spring has arrived. The Icelandic media always covers the first plover sighting.

See also

  • Egyptian plover

References

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There are about 66 species in the subfamily, most of them called "plover" or "dotterel". The closely related lapwing subfamily, Vanellinae, comprises about 20 species.

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