Charadrius alexandrinus

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• Bibliography
• More Info
• Notes

Common Names

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Description

Family Charadriidae

A family of birds that includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed , wings.

Physical Description

Habitat

Vegetation: coastal sand beaches and mudflats, freshwater lakes and ponds, alkaline lakes • Foraging Strata: Terrestrial • Center of Abundance: Lower tropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; tropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: High

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 152 meters (500 feet).Standard Deviation = 524.160 based on 5,204 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre.

Ecology:
List of Habitats :5.5Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Freshwater Lakes (over 8ha) 5.16Wetlands (inland) - Permanent Saline, Brackish or Alkaline Marshes/Pools 12.2Marine Intertidal - Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars , Spits , Etc

Biology

Diet

Primarily:

Aquatic Invertebrates

Reproduction

• Clutch Size: 3
• Length of Incubation : 27-28(25-32) days
• Days to Fledge : 31
• Number of Broods: 1(east), often2(west)

Migration

Some migrate

Taxonomy

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Similar Species

Piping Plover

Members of the genus Charadrius

There are approximately 105 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

C. alexandrinus (Kentish Plover) · C. alexandrinus alexandrinus (Snowy Plover) · C. alexandrinus dealbatus (Snowy Plover) · C. alexandrinus nivosus (Snowy Plover) · C. alexandrinus occidentalis · C. alexandrinus seebohmi · C. alexandrinus ssp · C. alexandrinus tenuirostris (Snowy Plover) · C. alexandrius · C. alexarinus occidentalis · C. alticola (Puna Plover) · C. asiaticus (Caspian Plover) · C. asiaticus veredus · C. australis (Inland Dotterel) · C. bicinctus (Double-Banded Plover) · C. bicinctus bicinctus · C. bicinctus exilis · C. cantianus · C. cinctus · C. collaris (Collared Plover) · C. crassirostris · C. cucullatus · C. curonicus · C. cursor · C. dominica dominica · C. dominicus · C. dubius (Little Ringed Plover) · C. dubius charadrius · C. dubius curonicus (Little Ringed Plover) · C. dubius dubius · C. dubius jerdoni · C. falklaicus · C. falklandicus (Two-Banded Plover) · C. falklandicus alticola · C. forbesi (Forbes's Plover) · C. fulvus · C. geoffroyi · C. hiaticula (Common Ringed Plover) · C. hiaticula hiaticula (Common Ringed Plover) · C. hiaticula semipalmatus · C. hiaticula tundrae · C. javanicus (Javan Plover) · C. leschenaultii (Greater Sand Plover) · C. leschenaultii columbinus · C. leschenaultii crassirostris · C. leschenaultii leschenaultii · C. marginatus (White-Fronted Plover) · C. marginatus arenaceus · C. marginatus marginatus · C. marginatus mechowi · C. marginatus tenellus · C. melanops · C. melanopterus · C. melodus (Piping Plover) · C. melodus circumcinctus (Piping Plover) · C. melodus melodus (Piping Plover) · C. modestus (Rufous-Chested Plover) · C. mongolus (Lesser Sand-Plover) · C. mongolus atrifrons · C. mongolus mongolus (Mongolian Plover) · C. mongolus pamirensis · C. mongolus schaeferi · C. mongolus stegmanni (Eastern Lesser Sand-Plover) · C. montana · C. montanus (Mountain Plover) · C. morinellus (Eurasian Dotterel) · C. nivosus · C. nivosus nivosus · C. novaeseelandiae · C. obscurus (New Zealand Dotterel) · C. oedicnemus · C. pallidus (Chestnut-Banded Plover) · C. pallidus pallidus · C. pallidus venustus · C. pecuarius (Kittlitz's Plover) · C. pecuarius pecuarius · C. peronii (Malaysian Plover) · C. placidus (Long-Billed Plover) · C. placidus japonicus · C. rubricollis · C. ruficapillus (Red-Capped Plover) · C. sanctae-helenae · C. sanctaehelenae (Saint Helena Plover) · C. semipalmatus (Semipalmated Plover) · C. squatarola · C. thoracicus (Black-Banded Plover) · C. torquatus · C. tricollaris (Three-Banded Plover) · C. tricollaris bifrontatus · C. tricollaris tricollaris · C. venusta venustus · C. venustus · C. veredus (Oriental Plover) · C. virginicus · C. vociferous (Killdeer) · C. vociferus (Kildeer Plover) · C. vociferus peruvianus · C. vociferus rubidus · C. vociferus ternominatus · C. vociferus vociferus (Killdeer)

Bibliography

• Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• Bird Reference Citations. The numbers inserted in the text accounts above (usually in bold) refer to references. For further details on these references, click on the BirdLife International link above to go to the specific species account on the BirdLife web site. In some cases, particularly in the taxonomic notes, the references are cited using the author names. Details for these can be found on the BirdLife International web site at the following two places: For References from A–L. For References from M–Z.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
• Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 07, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 19 providers.
• MBLWHOI Library: Universal Biological Index and Organizer. uBio.org accessed July 18, 2008.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 07, 2007:

• Avian Knowledge Network, eBird
• Biologiezentrum der Oberoesterreichischen Landesmuseen, Biologiezentrum Linz
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• Senckenberg, Collection Aves
• The Danish Biodiversity Information Facility, Western Palearctic migrants in continental Africa
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3851182
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-176513
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13809820
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 176510
• IUCN ID: 49147
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNNB03030
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 178063

Footnotes

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