Charadrius

Female Wilson's plover Charadrius wilsonia, photographed by Mikko Pyhälä.

Belongs within: Charadriidae.

The genus Charadrius contains the ringed and sand plovers. The members of this genus are small to medium-sized plovers characterised by a colour pattern with at least some degree of development of a band across the breast and/or a black forehead and black line connecting the bill and eye (Bock 1958). In some species such as the double-banded plover Charadrius bicinctus the breast band is doubled; in others such as the Kentish plover C. alexandrinus it is only partial, and does not cross the midline of the breast. Phylogenetic analysis by Jetz et al. (2002) does not support monophyly of Charadrius as currently recognised, placing some species closer to other genera such as Thinornis and Eudromias.

<==Charadrius Linnaeus 1758 M02 [incl. Peltohyas Sharpe 1896 B94; Peltohyatinae]
    |--+--+--C. montanus JT12
    |  |  `--+--C. alexandrinus Linnaeus 1758 JT12, WS48
    |  |     |    |--C. a. alexandrinus M03
    |  |     |    `--C. a. dealbatus M03
    |  |     `--C. marginatus JT12
    |  `--+--C. veredus Gould 1848 JT12, R85 [=C. asiaticus veredus R85, Eupoda asiatica vereda WS48]
    |     `--+--C. leschenaultii Lesson 1826 JT12, R85 [incl. Pagoa zanda Mathews 1916 WS48]
    |        `--C. mongolus Pallas 1776 JT12, R85
    |             |--C. m. mongolus M03
    |             |--C. m. atrifrons M03
    |             `--C. m. stegmanni HR96
    `--+--C. australis (Gould 1840) JT12, WS48 [=Eudromius australis WS48, Peltohyas australis M03]
       |    |--C. a. australis WS48
       |    `--C. a. whitlocki Mathews 1912 [=Peltohyas australis whitlocki] WS48
       `--+--+--C. ruficapillus Temminck 1822 JT12, R85 (see below for synonymy)
          |  `--+--C. bicinctus Jardine & Selby 1827 JT12, WH02 [incl. C. bicinctus incertus Mathews 1912 WS48]
          |     `--C. exilis Falla 1978 WH02 [=C. bicinctus exilis HWT01]
          `--+--C. wilsonia JT12
             `--+--C. collaris Vieillot 1818 JT12, ME04
                `--+--C. alticola JT12
                   `--C. falklandicus JT12

Charadrius incertae sedis:
  C. asiaticus (Pallas 1773) JT12, WS48 [=Eupoda asiatica WS48]
  C. cinctus SJ85
  C. cucullatus Vieillot 1818 (see below for synonymy) WS48
  C. forbesi JT12
  C. geoffroyi S66
  C. javanicus JT12
  C. morinellus Linnaeus 1758 M02
  C. nivifrons [incl. C. tenellus] S66
  C. obscurus Gmelin 1789 WH02
    |--C. o. obscurus HR96
    `--C. o. aquilonius HR96
  C. pallidus JT12
  C. pecuarius JT12
  C. peronii SU93
  C. placidus SU93
  C. sanctaehelenae JT12
  C. thoracicus JT12
  C. tricollaris JT12
  C. virginicus Licht. 1823 SS66

Charadrius cucullatus Vieillot 1818 [incl. C. cucullatus torbayi Mathews 1912, C. cucullatus tregellasi Mathews 1912] WS48

Charadrius ruficapillus Temminck 1822 JT12, R85 [=C. alexandrinus ruficapillus WS48; incl. C. ruficapillus tormenti Mathews 1912 WS48]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

Bock, W. J. 1958. A generic review of the plovers (Charadriinae, Aves). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 118 (2): 27-97.

[B94] Bock, W. J. 1994. History and nomenclature of avian family-group names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 222: 1-281.

[HR96] Heather, B. D., & H. A. Robertson. 1996. The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand. Viking: Auckland.

[HWT01] Holdaway, R. N., T. H. Worthy & A. J. D. Tennyson. 2001. A working list of breeding bird species of the New Zealand region at first human contact. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 28: 119-187.

[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444-448.

[ME04] Mayr, G., & P. G. P. Ericson. 2004. Evidence for a sister group relationship between the Madagascan mesites (Mesitornithidae) and the cuckoos (Cuculidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 84 (1-2): 1-17.

[M02] Mlíkovský, J. 2002. Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press: Praha.

[M03] Morcombe, M. 2003. Field Guide to Australian Birds, 2^nd ed. Steve Parish Publishing.

[R85] Robertson, C. J. R. (ed.) 1985. Reader’s Digest Complete Book of New Zealand Birds. Reader’s Digest: Sydney.

[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419-426.

[SS66] Sclater, P. L., & O. Salvin. 1866. On some additions to the catalogue of birds collected by Mr. E. Bartlett on the River Ucayali. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 566-567.

[SU93] Sonobe, K., & S. Usui (eds.) 1993. A Field Guide to the Waterbirds of Asia. Wild Bird Society of Japan: Tokyo.

[SJ85] Storr, G. M., & R. E. Johnstone. 1985. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia 2^nd ed. Western Australian Museum: Perth (Australia).

[WS48] Whittell, H. M. & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1-126.

[WH02] Worthy, T. H., & R. N. Holdaway. 2002. The Lost World of the Moa: Prehistoric life of New Zealand. Indiana University Press: Bloomington (Indiana).