The family Charadriidae is very large with seventy species listed and is split into subfamilies.

The subfamily Charadriinae contains forty-four species of the genera Pluvialis (4), Charadrius (34), Elseyornis (1), Thinornis (2), Anarhynchus (1), Phegornis (1), and Oreopholus (1). We have further divided this group into three sections.

Section 2, the Ringed Plovers of the genus Charadrius appears on this page.

Family: CHARADRIIDAE (Leach 1820)

Subfamily: CHARADRIINAE (Leach 1820)

Genera: There are thirty-four species of plover within the Charadrius genus.

Charadrius – Late Latin; charadrius yellowish bird mentioned in the Vulgate Bible (late 4th century) (Greek; kharadrios unknown plain-coloured nocturnal birds that dwelt in ravines and river valleys (kharadra ravine) (Linnaeus 1758)

  • Europe: Common Ringed, Little Ringed, Kentish, Caspian, Eurasian Dotterel.
  • Africa: Common Ringed, Little Ringed, Kittlitz’s, Madagascar, St Helena, Three-banded, Forbe’s, White-fronted, Kentish, Lesser Sandplover, Greater Sandplover, Caspian, Eurasian Dotterel.
  • Asia: Common Ringed, Long-billed, Little Ringed, Kentish, White-faced, Javan, Malaysian, Lesser Sandplover, Mongolian Sandplover, Greater Sandplover, Caspian, Oriental, Eurasian Dotterel.
  • Australasia: Northern Red-breasted, Southern Red-breasted, Little Ringed, Red-capped, Double-banded, Mongolian Sandplover, Greater Sandplover, Oriental, Inland Dotterel.
  • North America: Common Ringed, Semipalmated, Wilson’s, Killdeer, Piping, Snowy, Mountain.
  • Central and South America: Semipalmated, Wilson’s, Killdeer, Piping, Snowy, Collared, Puna, Two-banded, Rufous-chested, Mountain.

C. h. hiaticula (Linnaeus 1758)
C. h. tundrae (Lowe 1915)
C. h. psammodromus (Salomonsen 1930)

C. d. dubius (Scopoli 1786)
C. d. curonicus (Gmelin 1789)
C. d. jerdoni (Legge 1880)

C. w. wilsonia (Ord 1814)
C. w. beldingi (Ridgway 1919)
C. w. cinnamominus (Ridgway 1919)
C. w. crassirostris (Spix 1825)

C. v. vociferus (Linnaeus 1758)
C. v. ternominatus (Bangs & Kennard 1920)
C. v. peruvianus (Chapman 1920)

C. m. melodus (Ord 1824)
C. m. circumcinctus (Ridgway 1874)

C. t. tricollaris (Vieillot 1818)
C. t. bifrontalis (Cabanis 1882)

C. m. marginatus (Vieillot 1818)
C. m. mechowi (Cabanis 1884)
C. m. arenaceus (Clancey 1971)
C. m. tenellus (Hartlaub 1861)

C. alexandrinus (Linnaeus 1758)
C. a. seebohmi (Strickland 18152)
C. a. nihonensis (Fischer & Reichenow 1884)

C. n. nivosus (Cabanis 1872)
C. n. occidentalis (Cabanis 1872)

C. p. pallidus (Strickland 1852)
C. p. venustus (Fischer & Reichenow 1884)

C. b. bicinctus (Jardine & Selby 1827)
C. b. exilis (Falla 1978)

C. m. mongolus (Pallas 1776)
C. m. stegmanni (Portenko 1939)

C. m. pamirensis (Richmond 1896)
C. m. atrifrons (Wagler 1829)
C. m. schaeferi (Meyer de Schauensee 1938)

C. l. leschenaultii (Lesson 1826)
C. l. columbinus (Wagler 1829)
C. l. scythicus (Carlos, Roselaar & Voisin, 2012)

Ægialitis or Aegialitis (Boie 1822) is an old synonym for Charadrius but is no longer recognised in favour of the latter.

Wilson’s Plover subspecies C. w. crassirostris (Carlos and Voisin 2011) was formerly called C. w. brasiliensis (Grantsau 2008). According with the International code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) this change meant that Greater Sandplover subspecies C. l. crassirostris (Severtzov 1873) had to be remnamed C. l. scythicus (Carlos, Roselaar & Voisin 2012).

Mongolian and Lesser Sandplover were considered subspecies of Lesser Sandplover Charadrius mongolus. In 2022 a study showed that they were sufficiently different to warrant specific status creating Mongolian Sandplover C. mongolus/stegmanniand and Lesser Sandplover C. atrifrons/schaeferi/pamirensis.

  • Avibase https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org
  • BirdLife International: IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 26/03/2020
  • Carlos, C. J. & J-F. Voisin (2012). Charadrius wilsonia brasiliensis Grantsau & Lima, 2008, is a junior synonym of Charadrius crassirostris Spix, 1825: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 131 (1): 165–170.
  • Carlos, C. J., S. Roselaar & J-F. Voisin (2012). A replacement name for Charadrius leschenaultii crassirostris (Severtzov, 1873), a subspecies of Greater Sand Plover: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club. 132 (1): 63–65.
  • del Hoyo, Josep, Andrew Elliot & Jordi Sargatal: Handbook of the Birds of the World – Vol. 3 (1996)
  • Grantsau, R. & P. C. Lima (2008). Uma nova subespécie de Charadrius wilsonia (Aves, Charadriiformes) para o Brasil: Atualidades Ornitológicas. 142: 4–5.
  • Hayman, Peter, John Marchant & Tony Prater: Shorebirds – An identification guide to the waders of the world (1986)
  • HBW Alive https://www.hbw.com
  • Jobling, James A.: Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010)
  • Kennerley, P. R., D. N.Bakewell , P. D. Round: Rediscovery of a long-lost Charadrius plover from South-East Asia. Forktail 24, 63–79 (2008)
  • Seebohm, Henry: The Geographical Distribution of the Family Charadriidae, or, The Plovers, Sandpipers, Snipes, and Their Allies (1888)

Click on an image for more information about the individual species.

Plovers
CASPIAN PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
CHESTNUT-BANDED PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
COLLARED PLOVER – Least Concern
COMMON RINGED PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
DOUBLE-BANDED PLOVER – Near Threatened
EURASIAN DOTTEREL – Least Concern
FORBES’S PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
GREATER SANDPLOVER – Least Concern
INLAND DOTTEREL – Least Concern
JAVAN PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
KENTISH PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
KILLDEER – Least Concern
Plovers
KITTLITZ’S PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
LESSER SANDPLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
LITTLE RINGED PLOVER – Least Concern
LONG-BILLED PLOVER – Least Concern
MADAGASCAN PLOVER – Vulnerable
Plovers
MALAYSIAN PLOVER – Near Threatened
MONGOLIAN SANDPLOVER – Least concern
Plovers
MOUNTAIN PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
NORTHERN RED-BREASTED PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
ORIENTAL PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
PIPING PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
PUNA PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
RED-CAPPED PLOVER – Least Concern
RUFOUS-CHESTED DOTTEREL – Least Concern
Plovers
SEMIPALMATED PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
SNOWY PLOVER – Near Threatened
SOUTHERN RED-BREASTED PLOVER – Near Threatened
Plovers
ST HELENA PLOVER – Vulnerable
Plovers
THREE-BANDED PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
TWO-BANDED PLOVER – Least Concern
Plovers
WHITE-FACED PLOVER – Data Deficient
Plovers
WHITE-FRONTED PLOVER – Least Concern
WILSON’S PLOVER – Least Concern