Charadriidae

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Cladus: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Cladus: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Cladus: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Classis/Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Subclassis/Parvclassis: Neornithes
Infraclassis/Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Ordo: Charadriiformes
Subordo: Charadrii

Familia: Charadriidae

Genera: Anarhynchus – Charadrius – Erythrogonys – Eudromias – Hoploxypterus – Oreopholus – Peltohyas – Phegornis – Pluvialis – Vanellus – Zonibyx

Genera synonymized: Elseyornis – Thinornis – into Charadrius.
Name

Charadriidae Leach, 1820

Typus: Charadrius Linnaeus, 1758

Synonymy

Charadriadæ (protonym)

References
Primary references

Leach, W.E. 1820. Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum: Eleventh Room. British Museum. London. 17th edition: 65–70. (Although the name of the author is not specified in the document, Leach was the Keeper of Zoology at the time). BHL DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.144385 Reference page. 69 'Charadriadæ'

Additional references

Baker, A.J., Yatsenko, Y., & Tavares, E.K. 2012. Eight independent nuclear genes support monophyly of the plovers: The role of mutational variance in gene trees. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 65 (2): 631–641.
dos Remedios, N., Lee, P.L.M., Burke, T., Székely, T. & Küpper, C. 2015. North or South? Phylogenetic and biogeographic origins of a globally distributed avian clade. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 89: 151-159. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.010 Paywall Reference page.
Černý, D. & Natale, R. 2022. Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 177: 107620 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620 Paywall PDF Reference page.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Сяўцовыя
Deutsch: Regenpfeifer
Nordfriisk: Tüütern
Frysk: Wilsterfûgels
hrvatski: Kulici
日本語: チドリ科
한국어: 물떼새과
македонски: Блатарки
polski: Sieweczkowate
Türkçe: Yağmurcungiller
中文: 鸻科

The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. The family contains 69 species that are divided into 10 genera.
Taxonomy

The family Charadriidae was introduced (as Charadriadæ) by the English zoologist William Elford Leach in a guide to the contents of the British Museum published in 1820.[1][2] Most members of the family are known as plovers, lapwings or dotterels. These were rather vague terms which were not applied with any great consistency in the past. In general, larger species have often been called lapwings, smaller species plovers or dotterels and there are in fact two clear taxonomic sub-groups: most lapwings belong to the subfamily Vanellinae, most plovers and dotterels to Charadriinae.

The trend in recent years has been to rationalise the common names of the Charadriidae. For example, the large and very common Australian bird traditionally known as the ‘spur-winged plover’, is now the masked lapwing; the former ‘sociable plover’ is now the sociable lapwing.
Description

They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings, but most species of lapwing may have more rounded wings. Their bill are usually straight (except for the wrybill) and short, their toes are short, hind toe could be reduced or absent, depending on species. Most Charadriidae also have relatively short tails, with the exception of the killdeer. In most genera, the sexes are similar, very little sexual dimorphism occurs between sexes. They range in size from the collared plover, at 26 grams and 14 cm (5.5 in), to the masked lapwing, at 368 grams (0.811 pounds) and 35 cm (14 in).
Distribution and habitat

They are distributed through open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water, although there are some exceptions: the inland dotterel, for example, prefers stony ground in the deserts of central and western Australia,[3] and the killdeer is often found in grasslands in North America.
Behaviour and ecology

They hunt by sight, rather than by feel as longer-billed waders like snipe do. Foods eaten include aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates such as insects, worms, molluscs and crustaceans depending on habitat, and are usually obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups. They also feed on plant material.
Breeding

The vast majority of Charadriidae have a socially monogamous mating system. Some, such as Northern lapwings, are polygynous, others, such as mountain plovers have a rapid multiple-clutch system that can be accompanied by sequential polyandry. In Eurasian dotterels, females compete for males and males provide all parental care.[4] While breeding, they defend their territories with highly visible aerial displays.[3]

Charadridae lay two to four eggs into the nest, which is usually a shallow scrape in the open ground, and incubate the clutch for 21–30 days.[4] In species where both parents incubate the eggs, females and males vary in the way they share their incubation duties, both within and between species. In some pairs, parents exchange on the nest in the morning and in the evening so that their incubation rhythm follows 24-hour day, in others females and males exchange up to 20 times a day.[5]

Charadriidae are protective over their eggs and offspring. The parents protect their young by uttering an alarm call, performing distraction display and they may even attack the predator or intruder. The chicks are precocial; their parents do not feed them.
References

Leach, William Elford (1820). "Eleventh Room". Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum. Vol. 17 (17th ed.). London: British Museum. p. 69. Although the name of the author is not specified in the document, Leach was the Keeper of Zoology at the time.
Bock, Walter J. (1994). History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. p. 137. hdl:2246/830.
Harrison, Colin J.O. (1991). Forshaw, Joseph (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Animals: Birds. London: Merehurst Press. p. 105. ISBN 1-85391-186-0.
Piersma, T.; Wiersma, P. (1996). "Family Charadriidae (Plovers)". In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 384-443 [400-401]. ISBN 978-84-87334-20-7.
Bulla, Martin; Valcu, Mihai; Dokter, Adriaan M.; Dondua, Alexei G.; Kosztolányi, András; Rutten, Anne L.; Helm, Barbara; Sandercock, Brett K.; Casler, Bruce (2016). "Unexpected diversity in socially synchronized rhythms of shorebirds" (PDF). Nature. 540 (7631): 109–113. Bibcode:2016Natur.540..109B. doi:10.1038/nature20563. PMID 27880762. S2CID 4390453.