charadriiform

▪ bird order

Introduction

   any member of the large group of birds (bird) that includes the sandpipers (sandpiper), plovers (plover), gulls (gull), auks (auk), and their relatives. These birds form an important and familiar segment of the avifauna of the world's coasts and inland waterways, of the Arctic regions, and of the oceans and their islands. They are mostly strong-flying birds of open country or open water, nesting on the ground and feeding on animal matter in or near water. The order is worldwide in distribution, and some species perform the most extensive migrations of any birds.

General features

 The order is a diverse assemblage of 17 families linked by similarities in anatomical features (especially skeleton and plumage) and developmental patterns. Better-known members of the order fall into three groups, easily recognized on the basis of general body plan. The first of these (the suborder Charadrii), collectively known as shorebirds (shorebird) or waders, includes sandpipers (sandpiper), plovers (plover), lapwings (lapwing), snipes (snipe), stilts (stilt), and some less-familiar forms. They are primarily birds (bird) of shorelines and other open areas, and they walk or wade while feeding. There are about 220 species, varying in size from the least sandpiper, a sparrow-sized bird of about 20 grams (0.7 ounce), to large curlews of about 640 grams (1.5 pounds, near the body size of a small chicken).

 A second group, the suborder Lari, contains about 107 species of gulls, terns (tern), skimmers (skimmer), skuas (skua), and jaegers (jaeger). They are long-winged, web-footed birds, the smallest of which is the least tern (Sterna albifrons), weighing about 43 grams (1.5 ounces), with a wingspread of about 50 cm (20 inches). The largest, the great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), weighs about 1,900 grams (a little over four pounds) and has a spread of about 165 cm (65 inches).

      The third and smallest suborder, Alcae, contains 23 species of auks (auk), murres (murre), guillemots (guillemot), and puffins (puffin), all in a single family, Alcidae. They are compact, streamlined marine birds with short, narrow wings (wing) and webbed feet. Alcids are adapted for swimming on the ocean surface and underwater.

      Most charadriiforms have plumage patterns in white, grays, browns, and black, and many have bright red or yellow feet, bills, wattles, eyes, or mouth linings. A few species have both dark and light plumage phases.

      Each of the larger families (Laridae, Charadriidae, Scolopacidae) is practically worldwide in distribution, although none of the Scolopacidae breeds in Australia. The skuas and jaegers (Stercorariidae) are found in high latitudes of both hemispheres and are wide-ranging through the world's oceans. Auks and their allies (Alcidae) are widespread in the oceans, islands, and seacoasts of the Northern Hemisphere. They are not related to their similar counterparts of the Southern Hemisphere, the diving petrels (diving petrel) and the penguins (penguin). The oystercatchers (oystercatcher) (Haematopodidae) are found on coasts of all continents except Antarctica and occur inland in Europe and Asia. A group of families occurs in tropical (or tropical and temperate) regions of the Eastern and Western hemispheres: jacanas (jacana) (Jacanidae), painted snipe (Rostratulidae), avocets (avocet) and stilts (Recurvirostridae), thickknees (thickknee) (Burhinidae), and skimmers (Rynchopidae). The coursers (courser) and pratincoles (pratincole) (Glareolidae) occur throughout tropical and temperate regions of the Old World, and the crab plovers (crab plover) (Dromadidae) are limited to shores of the Indian Ocean. seedsnipe (Thinocoridae) are found in southern South America and northward in the Andes; sheathbills (sheathbill) (Chionididae) occur on islands of the southern Atlantic and western Indian oceans and on the southern coast of South America and adjacent Antarctica. Phalaropes (phalarope) (Phalaropodidae) breed in northern regions, and two species winter at sea.

Importance to humans

      The eggs of murres (murre), puffins (puffin), gulls (gull), terns (tern), and lapwings (lapwing) have long been harvested for food. These birds (bird) are particularly suitable for such use because many nest in enormous colonies and because they replace the clutch if the first is taken soon after laying. Several hundred thousand eggs, and sometimes over a million, may be taken from a locality in a single year. Certain colonies, especially those of gulls and terns, have been raided without regard to the future of the colonies, but carefully controlled egging has long been conducted in the Faeroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and other northern regions. Adult puffins and other alcids are also harvested with long-handled nets on the Faeroes and in Iceland.

      Extravagant exploitation of the great auk for food on its North Atlantic nesting islands by sailors and, later, slaughter for the feather trade probably caused its extinction in the 1840s. Other charadriiform birds, especially terns and gulls, assumed a sudden economic value for decorating women's hats in the latter half of the 19th century, and raiding of breeding colonies in North America almost extirpated several species. Aroused public opinion, hastened by the activities of the newly formed Audubon societies, brought protection to gulls, terns, and other species.

      Charadriiform birds have had considerable economic impact in various other ways. California gulls are credited with saving the pioneers' crops in Utah during a plague of crickets, and today gulls habitually follow the farmer's plow, consuming exposed grubs and mice. Flocks of noddy terns and other birds serve to guide Hawaiian fishermen to schools of tuna, and the numbers, kinds, and behaviour of the birds may also indicate the size of the fish and the size and depth of the school. Certain shorebirds (shorebird) were once extensively killed for food or sport (causing near extinction of the Eskimo curlew (curlew)); today woodcock and snipe are hunted under regulation. Gulls and shorebirds are occasional hazards at airports, where airplanes have been damaged by midair collisions.

      The order as a whole has been the subject of much scientific investigation, leading to important studies on speciation, ecology, ethology, migration, anatomy, and physiology.

Natural history

Locomotion and feeding behaviour

 Most shorebirds (shorebird) inhabit open areas and are strong fliers, some performing extensive migrations that cover long distances over water. A ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpres) banded in the Pribilof Islands was recaptured in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, 3,770 km (2,325 miles) away, four days later. Gulls (gull), terns (tern), skimmers (skimmer), skuas (skua), and jaegers (jaeger) spend much of their time on the wing, both in migration and within the breeding or wintering grounds. Immature sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) spend several years flying at sea before first coming to land to breed, and Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) fly each year to and from Antarctic waters after breeding in the Arctic. Gulls are given to soaring and gliding more than the others and are the only members of the suborder Lari that spend considerable time swimming or resting on water. Of the three major charadriiform groups, the alcids spend the least time on the wing, but they are strong, fast fliers for short distances. Outside the breeding season they are pelagic (that is, living on the open ocean).

      The feeding habits of the charadriiforms are as varied as their external appearance. Jacanas (jacana) inhabit pools and lakes thick with water lilies and other aquatic vegetation. They run agilely on lily pads with prancing steps, supported by their remarkably long toes and claws. While foraging, they turn over lily pads in search of snails, arthropods, and other small animals.

      Plovers (plover) (Charadriidae) and the crab plover (Dromadidae) usually forage on open ground, relying on sight to locate the invertebrates on which they feed. The foraging bird runs a few steps, pauses with head cocked, then pecks at possible prey or runs again. Most plovers feed during the day, but the crab plover feeds mostly at twilight. Oystercatchers (oystercatcher) (Haematopodidae) feed largely on mussels, oysters, and marine worms. Depending on the type of mussel bed being exploited, the bird either tears loose a mussel and hammers a hole in the shell or, finding the mussel in water with its shell open, drives the knifelike beak into the open shell, cutting the adductor muscle and preventing the shellfish from closing.

      Sandpipers (sandpiper) and their relatives (Scolopacidae) use their slender bills as forceps to pick up surface invertebrates or (especially in the calidridine sandpipers) for probing in mud. Curlews (curlew) use their long, downcurved bills for probing crustacean burrows on beaches and worm burrows on mudflats, and for picking up insects and berries on tundra or grassland. woodcock (Philohela and Scolopax) also probe, but in woodland soils and leaf litter, feeding extensively on earthworms. Turnstones (turnstone) (Arenaria) habitually flip over vegetation, debris, soil, and stones with the straight upper edge of the bill, eating the animal life thus exposed.

      Avocets (avocet) and stilts (stilt) (Recurvirostridae) feed in shallow water by sweeping the opened bill from side to side over the bottom (avocets) or near the surface (stilts). Stilts also feed by pecking and probing. The ibisbill (Ibidorhyncha), a recurvirostrid with a downcurved bill, inhabits Himalayan lakes and rivers and feeds by reaching under rocks in water for insects, mollusks, crustaceans, and worms, sometimes while wading belly-deep. Phalaropes (phalarope) (Phalaropodidae) habitually feed while swimming and sometimes stir up prey by spinning around.

      Coursers (courser) and pratincoles (pratincole) (Glareolidae) are insectivorous birds of open country. Coursers feed most actively at night, taking by short dashes termites, black ants, and other terrestrial arthropods. Pratincoles hawk insects on the wing in the manner of swallows.

      Sheathbills (sheathbill) (Chionididae) inhabit Antarctic regions, where overdependence on one type of food may be disastrous. They subsist on algae; limpets and other mollusks; crustaceans; fish; the eggs and nestlings of penguins (penguin), cormorants (cormorant) and other birds; the afterbirth and droppings of seals; and human refuse.

      The food habits of seedsnipe (Thinocoridae) are unique within the order. These chunky, terrestrial birds eat primarily vegetable matter, such as seeds, buds, shoots, and leaves, for which their short, stout bills are well suited.

      The gulls and their relatives (suborder Lari) are more dependent on flight for obtaining their food than are the shorebirds. The strongest fliers are the skuas (skua) and jaegers (jaeger) (Stercorariidae), which are gull-like in general proportions but with hooked bills. Stercorariids harass terns, gulls, boobies (booby), and other seabirds until the latter drop or regurgitate food, which is retrieved by the “pirates.” On their Arctic or Antarctic breeding grounds these birds prey on insects, rodents, small birds, and the eggs and young of other seabirds.

      The diet of gulls (Laridae) is highly varied, including fish, small birds, rodents, and a wide range of invertebrates, taken by active predation, as well as carrion of all sorts, garbage, and some vegetable material. Many of the larger gulls are not beyond piracy, stealing food from other birds (including members of their own species), and some prey heavily on the eggs and young of other seabirds. Sometimes they hawk insects or break open shellfish by dropping them from a height.

      Most terns are smaller than gulls. All have straight, sharp bills and feed chiefly on the wing, by hovering over the water and plunging in for surface fish and crustaceans, by swooping low to pick fish from the water in flight, or by hawking insects over land.

 Skimmers (skimmer) (Rynchopidae) feed by day or night. They fly over the surface of calm water at speeds up to 30 miles (48 km) per hour with the long, knifelike lower mandible cutting the water. When the mandible strikes a fish or shrimp, the head doubles under the body and the bill clamps shut. The bird flies upward and swallows the fish in the air or carries it to the nest.

      Alcids (family Alcidae) are the only charadriiforms adapted for swimming underwater, which they do by propelling themselves with half-open wings. The larger alcids (puffins (puffin), murres (murre), auks (auk), and guillemots (guillemot)) feed on small fish and invertebrates, the smaller ones (murrelets and auklets) almost entirely on invertebrates, especially on tiny, free-swimming (planktonic) crustaceans, such as euphausids.

Reproduction

      The modes of reproduction in the charadriiforms are only slightly less diverse than the food habits. Nearly all are ground nesters (nest), laying few eggs (two to four in most families; up to six in jacanas) often with little or no nesting material. Usually the eggs are protectively coloured. Some species nest in crevices or burrows, a few in trees. Many are colonial, with aggregations running to over a million pairs. Sex reversal, in which the female is more brightly coloured than the male and takes a dominant role in courtship whereas the male incubates the eggs and rears the young, is found in most jacanas, painted snipe, and phalaropes.

Shorebirds (shorebird) (suborder Charadrii)

      Female jacanas (jacana) are larger and more aggressive than males; after laying, females of some species show no interest in the nest or young, leaving incubation and care of chicks to the male. The nest is a shallow, sodden pile of vegetation that floats among aquatic plants. Chicks are downy and run well when a day old. Both chicks and adults may dive to escape danger and remain submerged (probably clinging to vegetation) with only the bill exposed. Adults have been known to take chicks up to 12 days old under their wings and carry them to a safer location. Jacanas perform injury-feigning displays (display behaviour) and other striking displays, sometimes with their broad wings stretched aloft, and they attack other species near the nest.

      The female of the Old World painted snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) is larger and more brightly coloured than the male, whereas the South American species (Nycticryphes semicollaris) shows little sexual dimorphism, although females are slightly larger. As in some jacanas, the female of Rostratula is more aggressive in courtship, displaying with spread wing and tail, and she leaves incubation and care of the chicks to the male. The nest is a shallow platform of bent reeds in which the four eggs (two in Nycticryphes) are incubated for about 19 days. The downy young take to the water readily.

      Phalaropes (phalarope) nest in open tundra, marsh, or sedges near water. Females take the lead role in courtship and aggression, and several may vie for a male and fight among themselves. Copulation occurs on the water. There is no pronounced territorial behaviour around the nest, but a female may drive other females away from her mate. The incubation and care of the brood is performed by the male, and females leave the nesting grounds with the onset of incubation. The chicks are aquatic, swimming within an hour of hatching, and they perform the spinning habit commonly used by adults when feeding in water.

      Oystercatchers (oystercatcher) (Haematopodidae) are noisy, stocky birds of coasts and shores. They are highly gregarious and even perform sexual displays within the flock. One such display is the piping performance involving a number of birds that run toward a central point, holding the bill and neck down and the bill open and uttering a loud piping. Groups also pipe and posture (lowering the bill and neck) in flight. Before copulation the male circles the female in a crouching pose with tail and bill lowered, while the female indicates readiness by raising her tail. All behaviour patterns (except the precopulatory ones) are common to both sexes. Oystercatchers have no strong territorial behaviour at the nest, often tolerating strange birds nearby, but they may return to the same spot with the same mate in successive years. Although pairs separate from the flock to nest, they periodically rejoin communal displays during breeding. The two or three eggs are incubated by both parents. Downy young move to the water's edge, where they remain on a feeding territory for at least six weeks and are fed small worms by the parents, who forage within sight in shallow water.

      Avocets (avocet) and stilts (Recurvirostridae) resemble oyster-catchers in basic breeding behaviour, although the specific display patterns are different. Avocets nest in small colonies of up to a few hundred pairs, in grassy marshes that have substantial areas of shallow open water, fresh or salt. Both sexes incubate the four eggs and protect the young. Stilts are somewhat colonial in their nesting, sometimes sharing a marsh with avocets. Stilts perform group displays in the breeding season. The ibisbill lays its eggs among the rocks of glacial streams. When alarmed, it bobs its tail and pumps its head up and down.

      Most plovers (plover) nest in open areas, relying on their coloration to protect them while incubating or brooding. The solid colour of the back in the true plovers (Charadrius) matches the ground, and one or more black bands on the breast and face break the outline of the bird.

      Many plovers are somewhat colonial but also exhibit territorial and aggressive behaviour. Some perform song flights during the breeding season, and many have melodious, whistled calls and bob when alarmed. The nest is a scrape or hollow with scant lining, in which four eggs are laid. Incubation is usually shared by the pair and takes from 20 to 30 days, depending upon the species. The chicks feed themselves but are usually protected by both parents by means of alarm calls that elicit crouching in the chicks. Often, parents will feign injury to divert a predator from their young. Many species occur in large postbreeding flocks and migrate great distances.

      Crab plovers (crab plover) (Dromas ardeola) breed colonially in burrows in sand banks and fashion a nest chamber at the end of the narrow, three-to-five-foot tunnel. Here the bird lays a single, relatively large, white egg. The downy young is fed in the burrow by both parents.

      Most pratincoles (pratincole) and coursers nest like plovers. Pratincoles breed in scattered groups, laying two or three eggs in an unlined scrape. They have a distraction display at the nest. The Egyptian plover (Pluvianus aegyptius) buries its egg in sand by day and incubates at night. Most glareolids lay two eggs, but the double-banded courser (Rhinoptilus africanus) lays only one, often located near antelope droppings, for concealment on otherwise bare ground. In that species, incubation by both sexes lasts about 26 days, and eggshells are removed. The chick has sparse down and is fed for about six weeks, until nearly fledged. A second egg may be laid before the first chick is independent. Adults and young combat the desert heat by panting, and adults also raise dorsal feathers (feather) and expose their legs during incubation.

      The thickknees (thickknee) frequent dry open ground but within reasonable distance of water. They are cryptically coloured and spend much of the day squatting on their heel joints (“knees”) or resting flat on the ground with the legs drawn under the body. On hot days the legs may be extended behind the resting bird, perhaps for heat dissipation. They have large eyes and are active and noisy from dusk until dawn. Their displays include spread wing and tail postures. The one or two eggs are laid on bare ground and are incubated for 25–27 days by the female or by both birds. Both parents attend the downy chicks, which run from the nest a day after hatching and fly when six weeks old.

      Sheathbills (sheathbill) are the most gull-like of the Charadrii. Their feet are not webbed, but they swim well and fly strongly at sea hundreds of miles from land. Males bow, bob, strut, and coo during courtship. They build bulky nests in holes, burrows, or rock crevices. Their two or three eggs are laid more than a week apart, but incubation begins with the first. As a result, the chicks are of different sizes and rarely does more than the largest one survive. This seemingly wasteful system is an adaptation that allows the sheathbills to fledge the maximum number of young permitted by their fluctuating food supply.

      Most members of the Scolopacidae (the largest family of the shorebirds) construct nests on the ground, but several species use the abandoned nests of other birds, in trees or on the ground. Most of the calidridine sandpipers have courtship songs given in flight and are monogamous, but the ruff (Philomachus pugnax) is notable for social courtship, performed on the ground, and for promiscuity. Males have a prominent collar of feathers of the head and neck (the “ruff”) that are of different colours and patterns in different individuals. They assemble at communal display grounds (the arena or lek), where each bird occupies and defends a site during the day; occasionally, an “apprentice” male may be permitted to share an occupied site. Females visit the lek briefly and copulate with one or more birds. There is no pairing, and females assume all domestic responsibilities.

       woodcock and snipe (subfamily Scolopacinae) nest on the ground, woodcock in dry woods and snipe in marshes. The males of most species perform courtship flights in which some or all of the “song” is produced by specialized wing or tail feathers. Woodcock are largely solitary and nocturnal and are known to fly to safety with a chick carried between their legs.

      The subfamily Tringinae is the most diverse of the subgroups of the Scolopacidae. The breeding behaviour of the greenshank (Tringa nebularia) includes many features common to a number of shorebirds and provides a useful model for comparison with the behaviour found in the Lari and Alcae.

      From their winter quarters throughout much of the Old World temperate regions, greenshanks usually return north each year to the same breeding territory (territorial behaviour) and often to the same mate. Males usually precede females to the breeding grounds, but sometimes they arrive together. Their nesting grounds are in northern Europe and Asia, in flat meadows or swamps near lakes or in bogs with clusters of trees. The nesting territories vary in size from 100 to 700 acres, and nests may be 3 to 8 km (2 to 5 miles) apart, or as close as 0.5 kilometre (0.3 mile). When the territories are relatively small, singing and fighting reaches a high pitch. In aggressive displays, opposing males lean forward with tails fanned, meeting bill to bill. They may then flutter over one another with legs dangling, in leapfrog fashion. Potentially dangerous intruders are met with violent scolding calls, flicks of the open wings, or shaking the half-raised wings. Anxiety is expressed by bobbing and curtseying or stretching the neck.

      Flight songs (birdsong) are performed frequently during courtship and territorial adjustment, intermittently throughout incubation, and less regularly later. The tempo is quickest in unmated birds, which fly high (sometimes out of sight), singing, on downward glides and upward flight, while soaring and circling, sustained bursts of “too-too-too,” with other calls interspersed. Unmated males chase other birds in the air. Upon landing the male gives an aggressive display toward other individuals. Males return the display but females fly off, with the male in wild pursuit, sometimes attaining a great height and ending in a spectacular dive. The female may glide on bowed wings while the male rises and dips over her, dangling one or both legs, or he may flutter over a standing female in leapfrog display. The female invites copulation by tilting forward and squatting, and the male approaches and mounts, sometimes while waving his wings. Copulation is attempted repeatedly by the male before the female becomes receptive.

      The male escorts the female to various parts of the territory, but she chooses the nest site and makes a scrape by lowering the breast, turning, and scratching with her feet; she also brings nearby plant material in her bill. A former nest may be reused for three or more years. The site is usually close to a landmark such as a boulder, stump, or tree. On occasion a single male greenshank may command two females that nest 4 to 250 metres (13 to 820 feet) apart or that occasionally lay in the same nest, where they may incubate side by side.

      A clutch of four speckled and cryptically coloured eggs is laid in late April or early May and is incubated for 23 or 24 days. The eggs are laid at any time of day, and the female is accompanied by the male to the nest during the laying of at least the first eggs. Both members develop incubation patches (featherless areas of skin abundantly provided with blood vessels) on the sides of the breast and across the abdomen, and both share in incubation, although occasionally the male defaults. Duty shifts are most frequent at early morning and evening hours, and males generally incubate at night. The free individual spends its time at feeding grounds—usually a lake or marsh up to 13 km (8 miles) away, where it feeds, preens, or rests, or it may engage in song flights over the territory. The incubating bird sits tightly, even in the presence of danger, but it may spring off the eggs and perform an injury-feigning display. An egg knocked out of the nest is drawn back in by rolling it with the underside of the bill.

      When the eggs are pipped, the male spends much time perching near the nest. Chicks pipe inside the eggs, and the hen calls back; she may or may not enlarge the egg hole by pecking. Immediately after the hatching the adult carries the shells some 50 to 500 metres (about 165 to 1,650 feet) and drops them, or occasionally eats them. The chicks, covered with protectively coloured down, leave the nest during their first day, running rapidly on relatively large feet. They scatter and squat at the alarm call and rally to gutteral clucking by the parent. The female herds the chicks toward the lake, preceded by the male, who acts as sentry. Chicks may have to cross streams or rivers and survive cold rains, but they are brooded during storms and at night for about two weeks. They are sometimes taken by weasels, gulls, hooded crows, or other predators. Sometimes the family separates, each parent taking one or more chicks, or one parent may depart, leaving all responsibility to the other. The chicks are feathered and fly at about 26 days of age but stay near the parents until they are experienced fliers.

Gulls (gull) (suborder Lari)

      The members of the suborder Lari are quite different in breeding behaviour from those of the Charadrii. The herring gull (Larus argentatus) is typical of many of the better-known gulls. It inhabits subarctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is not strongly migratory, but most birds shift southward after breeding, and some go as far as Panama, the Hawaiian Islands, the central African coast, northern India, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines.

      In winter, herring gulls have a daily routine of flying from their social sleeping grounds to the feeding grounds, near which they may rest and preen, returning to the roosting area in the late afternoon. Storms may flood the broad beaches or sandbars that they require for roosting, forcing them to shift many miles in search of a new area.

      As spring approaches, the birds drift north to their breeding grounds, over which they may wheel one day only to disappear and return on another day. Eventually the birds land on the dunes or rocky coast that has been their traditional colony. Some stand in pairs, while others are in small groups known as “clubs.” Old birds have already paired in February, and they return to their former territories, which are about 30 to 50 metres (about 100 to 165 feet) in diameter. The gulls establish or defend their territories by a number of aggressive displays, which may occasionally lead to fierce fighting.

      Threat display of one bird may be met by threat, by anxiety or appeasement postures, or by retreat. The individual is usually dominant on its established territory. One aggressive display is the “oblique with long call,” in which the neck is stretched obliquely forward and upward, the wings held slightly out from the body, and a loud long-drawn call given with the bill wide open. In the silent “upright” threat posture the head is raised, the bill angled downward, the wings held stiffly apart from the body. A bird that approaches an intruder in this posture may increase its speed to a charge, half running and half flying. The intruder usually retreats to his own territory, where he, in turn, will perform the upright threat posture. Another aggressive action is “pecking the ground,” in which the bird pecks and often tears out moss or grass, which it holds or tosses aside. Tugging at grass is strenuous and occasionally results in a backward tumble. A third threat posture, called “choking,” often used by both members of a pair to intimidate another pair, consists of standing with legs bent, breast lowered, head pointed down, and the tongue lowered, while rhythmically jerking the head and uttering a deep call. These displays are effective in intimidating intruders, but occasionally fights break out in which birds peck or hold each other with their bills and pummel each other with their wings. Threat and fighting subside after territories have been established, and groups of neighbours recognize and tolerate each other.

      Younger birds, not yet paired, settle in clubs. There they doze or preen, and sometimes they threaten or chase newcomers. Young males perform the “oblique with long call” display, causing other males to avoid them and females to land near them. Females approach males with the neck drawn in and the body and head horizontal, sometimes “head tossing” and uttering a liquid call. Instead of threatening, the male may be induced to walk off with such a female. Aggressive feelings are lessened by a display called “facing away,” in which one or both birds, with neck stretched up, abruptly turn the head to the side away from the other bird. Together they make incomplete nest-building movements in a posture that resembles choking. The male may regurgitate half-digested food, which the female takes from his mouth and eats. This courtship feeding is repeated during pair formation but becomes less frequent as copulation becomes more frequent. Copulation is preceded by head tossing and begging calls by both members. The male stretches his neck and mounts the female's back while uttering a hoarse rhythmic call. The female continues to toss her head or may reach up to touch the male's breast while he waves his wings to maintain balance.

      Copulations, choking, and courtship feeding may occur at the club, but eventually the pair walks off to establish a territory. They make several hollows (scrapes) with their feet, and begin to build a nest at one of them. Both collect bits of straw and moss, which they bring to the nest and which they may deposit while sitting in the nest with a sideways movement of the head. They scrape and turn in all directions to shape the nest.

      The female lays three eggs at two-day intervals. With the first egg, one bird (or both) stays at the nest, sitting or standing guard. They incubate in turn, relieving each other after periods of about two to five hours and often bringing new nest material. The arriving bird may call or “choke” and may have to push its reluctant mate off the eggs. If an egg is knocked out of the nest the bird rolls it back in, precariously balancing it with the thin lower edge of its bill. An incubating bird recognizes its returning mate by call, even amid the clamour of the colony. Herring gulls apparently do not recognize their own eggs but return first to the nest site, even if the eggs are placed outside nearby. Incubation lasts about 30 days, including the three-day hatching period after the egg is first cracked. As part of the overall adaptations for concealment of eggs and chicks, gulls defecate at some distance from the nest and carry off the eggshells at hatching.

      Defense of the brood lasts several weeks and consists of swoops at intruders, with one or both feet lowered. The alarm call of one bird in the colony alerts the others, but gulls learn not to react to alarm calls of individuals that tend to give false alarms. The chicks are brooded for about three days. They soon peck at the red spot on the adult's bill, which induces the parent to regurgitate food (usually worms) that is held for the chick to eat. Other activities of the chicks are preening, yawning, stretching, scratching, and crouching at the alarm call; later they run from the nest before crouching. Chicks that wander near other adult birds may be pecked to death.

      After the chick's juvenile feathers have replaced the down and the bird approaches adult size and shape, its own parents may react aggressively toward it. The chick then adopts a submissive posture—with head withdrawn and body horizontal—similar to that of a female approaching a prospective mate. Full-grown young beg for food by head tossing and high-pitched calls, but they are ignored or rejected as they become independent.

      Herring gulls have concealingly coloured eggs, and their nests are widely spaced. The mobbing reaction in which many birds may participate is usually effective in distracting or repulsing a predator before it can extensively damage the colony.

      The elaborate display repertoire of the herring gull during the breeding season is duplicated in other species, with some variations, additions, or deletions. The “hooded” gulls, exemplified by the black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) and laughing gull (L. atricilla), have a striking “swoop-and-soar” aggressive flight display, and a ground display (called the “forward”) wherein the neck is lowered, the head withdrawn and angled upward, and the wings held out from the body.

      Several species of gull nest on narrow cliff ledges where they gain protection from predators but have limited space and face constant danger of the eggs or chicks falling off. In the kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), adaptations against predation are reduced: alarm calls are rare, chicks are not camouflaged, defecation occurs on the nest rim, and eggshells are not carried away. Security against falling is achieved by a deep nest cup, smaller clutch (two eggs), and strong claws. The chicks crouch in the nest rather than running out.

      The kittiwake is pelagic after breeding, and the swallow-tailed gull (Creagrus furcatus) of the Galapagos is semipelagic and nocturnal. The gray gull (Larus modestus) flies inland to waterless Chilean deserts to breed.

      Terns (tern) are, in general, smaller than gulls. Most are coastal or pelagic during the nonbreeding season, returning to breed in large colonies on islands, offshore bars, isolated beaches, or on Arctic tundra. The common tern (Sterna hirundo) and royal tern (Thalasseus maximus) and their relatives nest on the ground, whereas noddies (Anous) nest in bushes or on cliff ledges, and the fairy tern (Gygis alba) deposits its single egg on the limb of a tree or bush. Nests of Sterna and Thalasseus may be so closely spaced that neighbouring birds spar with their bills as they incubate.

      Displays of terns are more aerial than those of gulls and include “fish flights” in which one bird postures while carrying a fish. The ceremonial transfer of fish occurs during displays on the ground that are important in courtship and for the maintenance of the pair bond.

      Unlike gulls, most terns do not regurgitate food for the chicks but bring a fish back to the colony; there it is fed to the chick, which energetically pecks at the adult's bill. Chicks of royal terns band together soon after leaving the nest and may take to the water when predators approach. Terns are fierce in their mobbing attacks on predators. Like gulls, they often peck and kill chicks that trespass on their territories. Sooty terns (Sterna fuscata) have attracted considerable attention from biologists because on Ascension Island, in the South Atlantic, they breed every 9.6 months and on Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean, every six months. Elsewhere they have an annual cycle.

      The breeding pattern of skimmers (skimmer) is ternlike. They breed on sandbars in rivers and estuaries in tropical and subtropical regions, forming loose colonies of about 100 to several thousand pairs. The nests are mere hollows in the sand. The eggs usually number three or four and are incubated chiefly by the female. The chicks are fed by both parents, and their food is primarily small fish. In the presence of danger, the chicks lie flat or burrow into the sand and may even kick sand onto their backs. Their mandibles are of nearly equal length until after fledging, enabling them to pick up fish brought in and dropped by the parents.

      Although not strongly colonial in their nesting habits, numbers of skuas (Catharacta skua) may nest on the fringes of penguin colonies; in Iceland they nest in clumps of vegetation on great outwash gravel plains. Jaegers (jaeger) (three species of Stercorarius) nest on the tundra, where both sexes share in incubating the two eggs. Some species have light and dark phases. They are pelagic and solitary after breeding.

Auks (auk) (suborder Alcae)

      Alcids breed in island colonies along Arctic and north temperate seacoasts, with the exception of a few murrelets (murrelet) that breed inland on mountains. Even these must remain within flying distance of the sea. The breeding behaviour of the pigeon guillemot (Cepphus columba) is fairly typical of the family. This species breeds on islands and coasts of the North Pacific, south to central California. It nests between rocks or in holes in cliffs, uses burrows of other birds, or digs its own tunnels with its bill and feet. Occasionally it nests on an open ledge or in tall grass. Unlike some other alcids, guillemots walk quite well on land.

      Birds land at their breeding colonies in British Columbia in early April, at which time they stay only briefly in the early mornings. In general, birds return to the same mate and nest burrow for many years. Full attendance is achieved by the end of June, but even then many birds leave the colony in the afternoon to go to their feeding grounds—shoals that may be several miles distant. Only incubating and brooding birds spend the night at the colony. They drive other birds away from their burrows before egg-laying but are more tolerant later in the season when feeding young. The pair also defends a perch site away from the nest burrow, usually a rock close to the water. On this site, which is used in successive years by the same pair, copulation occurs and the nonincubating bird may rest and preen. About 30 percent of the birds at the colony consists of nonbreeding individuals—yearlings or two-year-olds that were hatched at the colony but are unpaired.

      During the pre-egg stage, which lasts about 30 to 60 days, the mated pairs spend much time at the perch sites, but they occasionally visit the nest site or cliff top and join in communal water displays (display behaviour). Their display repertoire includes several alarm reactions—the flight intention call, bill dipping (in water), and a scream delivered with the neck straight up and the bill agape. Among the aggressive and sexual displays are a silent lunge on water or land with bill somewhat open, chases that may be in flight or underwater, and a “hunch-whistle” on shore or water, with tail cocked, the head drawn back, the bill agape, accompanied by piping. A display that may represent appeasement is the “twitter-waggle” in which the bird twitters with the tail raised, wings loose, and head and neck outstretched and wagging sideways. The communal water dances, which occur in the pre-egg stage, involve many birds. Pairs are not always together or both present. The birds move rapidly under water or at the surface propelled both by wings and feet. This behaviour is interspersed with “hunch-whistles” and “twitter-waggles.”

      Pair formation is indicated by mutual “billing,” in which the birds waggle their heads but rarely touch bills, while uttering a twittering trilled song with the bill open, revealing the bright red mouth lining. Copulation is initiated by billing, followed by the male's waddling in a circle, first in one direction and then in the other. The female crouches and the male mounts, resting on his tarsi and fluttering his wings to keep balance; the female may gape, scream, or utter an alarm call. She then rises, throwing off the male, and the birds bill or preen.

      The pair cleans debris out of the nest cavity and piles up pebbles without making a well-defined nest. A normal clutch is two eggs (rarely one), and the birds' brood patches will not accommodate more than two eggs. The second egg follows the first by three days. incubation lasts for about 32 days, including a two-day interval between cracking and hatching. Steady incubation during the day begins one day after the clutch is complete, but incubation at night may not begin for one or two days more, at which time a single bird begins to sit all night until the early morning exchange. The incubating bird may leave the burrow briefly to defecate, preen, bathe, or drink, but it will not go to the feeding grounds until its mate arrives at the burrow. The downy chicks are fed, beginning the day after hatching, by both parents during their 35-day nestling and fledging period. Their food is mostly fish, including many blennies, sculpins, and sand lances, brought in the parent's bill throughout the daylight hours. The chicks may reject fish that are awkward to swallow or that have sharp spines. Fledged chicks eventually desert the burrow by night and may be coaxed out by a fish dangling in the parent's bill. The young are then independent, and they disappear offshore to feed without the parents, who may remain to loaf about the colony during morning hours for several weeks.

      Behaviour patterns like those of the pigeon guillemot run through many species with various modifications. Many alcids are burrow nesters, and some (Uria) habitually nest on narrow ledges of vertical cliffs, where they rest on their tarsi facing the rock wall. Some murrelets (murrelet) (Brachyrhamphus) nest in rock crevices above the timberline on mountains, and in trees of the taiga zone. Both sexes incubate the one or two eggs and feed the young at the nest site until it is nearly or completely fledged. Other murrelets (Synthliborhamphus) are truly nidifugous (precocious), their downy chicks taking to the sea within two days of hatching. Many alcids nest in immense colonies of mixed species, which segregate in part according to their specialized needs for nesting and feeding. They migrate to pelagic winter feeding grounds by swimming.

Form and function

      Most members of the Charadriiformes are clearly recognizable as belonging to a particular suborder. Major structural variations occur in the beak and legs, correlated with the mode of feeding and size of food.

Adaptations for flight

      Gulls, terns, and skimmers have long, narrow wings (wing), low wing loadings (the ratio of weight to wing area), slow wing beat rates and flight speeds, and moderately developed flight muscles. Alcids (Alcidae), on the other hand, have proportionately shorter wings, high wing loadings, rapid wing beat rates and greater speed (45–55 miles per hour), and large flight muscles. Their wing bones are flattened in adaptation to underwater “flight.” The shorebirds lie between the other suborders in flight adaptations; their wings are not adapted for soaring, but they are strong fliers and cover great distances in continuous flight.

      The evolution of the wing in the Alcidae has been influenced by the fact that it serves both as an aquatic paddle and as an aerial wing. The wing is partly folded underwater, reducing its area and increasing its mechanical advantage. It is used not to provide lift but to propel the bird in pursuit of prey. To support a bird in air, however, a wing must be larger than the optimum paddle size. This is especially critical in large birds, as body weight is proportional to the cube of linear dimensions and wing area to the square. Body size and flying ability are therefore limited by the need for a small effective paddle. In flightless aquatic species the wing can be relatively small and the bird much larger, as in the great auk and in penguins (penguin).

molt

      Most Charadriiformes have two molts between breeding periods, which are on an annual cycle in all except some populations of the sooty tern (Sterna fuscata). A partial body molt generally precedes breeding, and a complete molt follows breeding. In some species flight feathers (feather) of the wing and tail are molted before the fall migration; in others they are retained through the fall migration and molted on the wintering grounds. Still other species stop along the migration route to molt. The ruff (Philomachus pugnax) is exceptional in having one complete and two partial molts between breeding cycles.

      Major flight feathers of most species are lost gradually and in sequence so that flight is not impaired. Flight feathers of the wing in most Alcidae, however, are molted simultaneously after breeding, with temporary loss of flight but no hindrance to underwater locomotion. One jacana (Actophilornis) is also flightless for a brief period.

Adaptations for feeding

  As in other birds, the upper jaw as well as the lower jaw can be moved up and down. The lower jaw has special regions of flexibility enabling it to be widened by bowing outward and allowing passage of large prey into the throat in Lari and Alcae.

      The shape of the bill (beak) varies greatly within the order, in accordance with special feeding methods. The hooked tip in gulls (gull) and jaegers (jaeger) facilitates grasping and tearing of food, which cannot be managed by the straight-billed terns. Some species such as the Atlantic puffin, rhinoceros auklet, and fairy tern are able to carry several fish crosswise in the bill while capturing still more. They do this by holding the fish against the roof of the upper jaw with the spiny tongue. The shorebirds exhibit a wide variety of bill types. Most bills in this group are long and slender, and straight or curved up or down. In the Scolopacidae the bill is usually slender and flexible, but in the Charadriidae it is somewhat stouter and less flexible, often slightly swollen at the tip. Among the specialized probers (sandpipers (sandpiper), snipe, and allies) the upper jaw is rigidly attached to the cranium and has a mobile tip with a concentration of tactile sense organs under the rhamphotheca (the horny covering of the beak). The tip of the upper jaw is controlled by jaw muscles and serves to grasp worms or larvae underground and to inch them along the bill before swallowing.

      In one plover (the wrybill, Anarhynchus frontalis) the bill curves to the right; in the spoonbilled sandpiper (Eurynorhynchus pygmeus) the tip of the bill is broad and spatulate. Oystercatchers (oystercatcher) have laterally flattened bills, with the tips forming a vertical blade. seedsnipe have short, conical bills not unlike those of sparrows. Pratincoles (pratincole) have short bills and wide mouths, like those of swallows (swallow) and swifts (swift).

      The Lari show few bizarre modifications of the bill, feathers, or feet. One oddity is the bill of skimmers (skimmer), in which the upper mandible is streamlined in cross section and laterally compressed. The lower mandible is knifelike and protrudes well beyond the upper. The sharp upper edge of the lower mandible fits into a groove in the upper when the bill is closed.

      Many alcids acquire bill ornamentation or head plumes during the breeding season. The functions of elaborate bill modifications are poorly understood but are believed to involve courtship and species recognition. The highly coloured plates on the bills of puffins (Lunda and Fratercula) are shed when the birds molt following the breeding season. In alcids that feed on zooplankton (tiny, free-floating animals), such as the least auklet (Aethia pusilla) and the dovekie or little auk (Plautus alle), the bill is relatively wide, the tongue large and fleshy, the palate broad with numerous horny projections, and the throat provided with an expandable pouch.

      Many charadriiform birds drink salt water. The ionic balance of their blood is maintained not only by the kidneys but by supraorbital glands (called nasal or salt glands) that lie in grooves in the skull over the eyes, discharging their salty excretion through the nostrils.

Evolution and paleontology

      Charadriiform birds (bird) diverged long ago, probably in the late Cretaceous Period, from the ancestors of modern gruiform birds. The subsequent diversification of form and function within and between the major groups—waders, gulls (gull), and auks (auk)—highlights the adaptive flexibility of the bird body. Charadriiforms are represented richly in the fossil record of the Paleogene and Neogene periods (65 million years ago to the present).

      The earliest of the auklike birds known at present were members of the alcid subfamily Nautilornithinae from the Eocene of Utah. Represented by wing and leg bones, these birds are inferred to have had longer limbs than present forms and to have been less well adapted for flight underwater than are contemporary species. Fascinating finds from the Pliocene Epoch (some 5 million years ago) are some very flattened wing bones (humeri) that exhibit features at both ends resembling those of penguins. These birds, the Mancallinae, were undoubtedly flightless and more specialized for underwater wing propulsion than was the now extinct great auk.

      Modern families probably had their origins in Paleocene times or earlier, and many modern genera were well represented by the Oligocene and Miocene epochs (some 34–5 million years ago). Modern species date chiefly from the Pleistocene Epoch (about 1.8 million years ago), and many facts concerning the distribution and differentiation of northern subspecies and species are explainable in terms of isolation during the periods of Pleistocene glaciation.

Classification

Annotated classification

Order Charadriiformes

 Palate schizognathous; upper jaw schizorhinal (except Burhinidae and Pluvianus); lachrymal bone fused to ectethmoid; cervical vertebrae 15 or 16; dorsal vertebrae opisthocoelous or heterocoelous; two carotid arteries (except Synthliborhamphus); oil gland feathered; syrinx (vocal organ) tracheobronchial; wing diastataxic (except Philohela); aftershaft present; down feathers present on adults. Eggs usually pyriform (that is, somewhat pointed at one end). Chicks downy and nidifugous, pseudonidifugous, or nidicolous. Approximately 86 genera, about 370 species; worldwide.

      Suborder Charadrii (shorebird)

 Hypotarsus complex (with canals), coracoid bones usually separate, depressions for supraorbital grooves usually small or absent; basipterygoid processes and occipital foramina usually present; furcula without hypocleideum; adult downs on pterylae only. Young nidifugous (precocious).

      Family Jacanidae (jacanas (jacana))

 Small to medium birds with showy plumage, moderately long, straight bills, and long legs. Some with wattles or lappets, a horny forehead plate, and wing spurs. Extremely elongated toes and long, straight claws. Occipital foramina and supraorbital grooves lacking; coracoids overlapping; rectrices 10. Females larger than males. 8 species; worldwide tropical and subtropical; length about 16–53.5 cm (6–21 inches).

      Family Rostratulidae ( painted snipe)

 Small birds with cryptically patterned plumage, long slender bill, and moderately long legs. Female larger and brighter than male. Occipital foramina present; sternum narrow, with single pair of notches. Crop present in Rostratula; trachea convoluted in female. 2 genera, 2 species: 1 in southern South America, 1 in Africa, southern and eastern Asia, Australia. Length 19–24 cm (7–9 inches).

      Family Haematopodidae (oystercatchers (oystercatcher))

 Medium-sized birds with black, brown, or white plumage in bold patterns or solid blackish brown. Bill long and wedge-shaped, bright red; legs moderately long, stout. Three toes. Supraorbital grooves large; tarsus covered with small, hexagonal scales. 11 species, inhabiting most temperate and tropical seacoasts, and inland water bodies in Europe and Asia; length 38–51 cm (15–20 inches).

      Family Recurvirostridae (avocets (avocet), stilts (stilt), and ibisbills (ibisbill))

 Moderately large birds with long bills, legs, and necks. Plumage in bold, simple patterns of black and white, gray, chestnut, or buff. Bill straight, recurved, or decurved. Toes webbed in Recurvirostra. Legs covered with reticulate scales. Plumage of underparts dense. About 3 genera, approximately 11 species worldwide in temperate and tropical regions, 1 species in the Himalayas; length 29–48 cm (11–19 inches).

      Family Charadriidae (plovers (plover), lapwings (lapwing))

 Small to medium-sized birds. Mostly with bold (but often concealing) plumage patterns of solid blacks, gray, browns, and white; many with one or two chest bands. Some with wattles and wing spurs. Bill usually short, with a swollen tip. Legs moderately long to long, with reticulate scale pattern. Hind toe usually absent. 66 species; worldwide; length about 15–40 cm (6–16 inches).

      Family Pedionomidae (plains wanderers (plains wanderer))

 Similar to button quails (Turnicidae) but differs in the following details: hallux present; 2 carotid arteries; wing diastataxic; eggs pointed. 1 species, confined to dry plains of Australia; body length about 16 cm (6 inches).

      Family Scolopacidae ( snipe, woodcock, sandpipers (sandpiper), turnstones (turnstone), and allies)

 Small to medium-sized birds, mostly finely patterned in buff, browns, chestnut, black, gray, and white. Bill moderate to very long and slender; straight, decurved, or recurved; one with spatulate tip. Legs short to long, usually with transverse scales front and back. Hind toe usually present and elevated. 86 species; worldwide; length 12.5–61 cm (5–24 inches).

      Family Phalaropodidae (phalaropes (phalarope))

 Small, densely feathered birds with straight slender bills, moderately long legs, lobed toes, and flattened tarsi. Females larger and brighter than males. 3 species; Arctic to temperate regions of Northern Hemisphere; winter at sea and in South America; length 19–25 cm (7.5–10 inches).

      Family Dromadidae (crab plovers (crab plover))

 Medium-sized bird of white and black plumage. Legs long and covered with reticulate scales. Bill strong, laterally compressed, and pointed. Nostrils pervious; basipterygoid processes absent; 15 cervical vertebrae; dorsal vertebrae heterocoelous. 1 species; coasts of Indian Ocean and southern Red Sea; length 38 cm (15 inches).

      Family Burhinidae (thickknees (thickknee))

 Medium-sized birds with cryptically patterned plumage of brown, gray-brown, black, and white. Bill stout, short to moderately long. Tarsus reticulate. Upper jaw holorhinal; basipterygoid processes and occipital foramina absent; coracoids overlapping. Large eyes. 9 species; temperate and tropical regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Australia; New World tropics; length 35–52 cm (14–20 inches).

      Family Glareolidae (pratincoles (pratincole) and coursers (courser))

 Pratincoles short-billed, long-winged, with medium-long legs and forked tails; coursers have longer bills, shorter wings and tail, long legs. Plumage patterned in olive, brown, gray, chestnut, black, white. Legs have rectangular scales front and back. Occipital fontanelles absent; basipterygoid processes absent in adult; dorsal vertebrae heterocoelous; 15 cervical vertebrae. 18 species; Africa, southern Eurasia, and Australia; length 15–25 cm (6–10 inches).

      Family Thinocoridae (seedsnipes (seedsnipe))

 Small to medium-sized birds, cryptically patterned in brown, buff, gray, white, and black. Bill short and conical, legs short, wings long and pointed. Nostrils operculate; crop present; vomer broad; basisphenoidal rostrum thick; no basipterygoid processes or occipital fontanelles. 4 species; southern South America and north in Andes; length 17–28 cm (7–11 inches).

      Family Chionididae (sheathbills (sheathbill))

 White birds of moderate size, short legs, and stout bill, with horny sheath over nostrils. No occipital fontanelles or basipterygoid processes; large supraorbital grooves; thick plumage; short carpal spurs on wing. 2 species; inhabit islands of extreme southern Atlantic and Indian oceans; length 35–43 cm (14–17 inches).

      Suborder Lari

 Hypotarsus simple (grooved but without canals); coracoids in contact (except in Stercorariidae); supraorbital grooves large; basipterygoid processes absent (present but small in young); occipital foramina absent in adults; furcula with hypocleideum; adult downs on both pterylae and apteria; anterior toes usually fully webbed, hind toe absent or minute; young tardily nidifugous (leave nest when half grown).

      Family Stercorariidae (skuas (skua), jaegers (jaeger))

 Medium-sized to large birds of solid brown, or brown, white, and black plumage. Bill moderately long, stout, hooked, with a horny dorsal plate. Wings long and pointed; tail with elongate central feathers in some. Legs rather short, toes webbed. Ceca well developed; coracoids not overlapping. 7 species; Arctic and Antarctic; length 43–61 cm (17–24 inches).

      Family Laridae (gulls (gull), terns (tern))

 Small to large birds, with solid plumage patterns of white, gray, black or sooty brown. Legs, eyes, and bill often brightly coloured in red or yellow. Wings long and pointed; tails of terns often long and deeply forked. Legs moderate to short. Bill short to moderately long; stout and somewhat hooked in gulls, more slender and pointed in terns. Front toes webbed. Sternum with 2 pairs of notches, ceca small. Rhamphotheca simple (without horny plates). 97 species; worldwide; length 20–76 cm (8–30 inches).

      Family Rynchopidae (skimmers (skimmer))

 Medium-sized birds with long, pointed wings, short legs, and a large bill. Bill deep and extremely flattened, lower mandible knifelike and longer than upper. Plumage black or blackish brown above, white below. Bill red or yellow, sometimes with black tip. Front toes webbed. Pupil closes to vertical slit. 3 species; irregularly distributed in tropical and temperate rivers, lakes, and seashores; length 37–51 cm (14.5–20 inches).

      Suborder Alcae

 Large supraorbital grooves with intervening space narrowed to ridge; basipterygoid processes absent in adults; occipital fontanelles present; haemapophysis of dorsal vertebrae large; sternum long and narrow with long, rounded metasternum. Anterior toes fully webbed, hind toe absent. Wing bones flattened. Young downy, nidicolous or nidifugous.

      Family Alcidae (auks (auk), murres (murre), puffins (puffin), and relatives)

 Small to large, dense-plumaged, short-winged, aquatic birds. Plumage black, gray, or brown, usually white below. Many have ornamental bill and head plumes. Legs set far back; tail short. 23 species; coasts of northern oceans; length 16–76 cm (6–30 inches).

Critical appraisal

      The charadriiforms are thought to be related to the orders Gruiformes (gruiform) and Columbiformes (columbiform). Certain intermediate or aberrant families have been removed from or added to the Charadriiformes by various taxonomists. The Belgian ornithologist R. Verheyen allied the Jacanidae with two gruiform families (Rhynochetidae, Eurypygidae) to form an order related to the rails (rail) and Charadriiformes. English ornithologist P.R. Lowe united the charadriiform and gruiform birds into a single order—the Telmatomorphae—placing the Thinocoridae (seedsnipe) as a link between the gruiform and charadriine members.

      At present, there is some molecular evidence that supports the inclusion of the sandgrouse (family Pteroclidae) in this order; however, this is a matter of some debate. On anatomical grounds, the sandgrouse resemble the pigeons (pigeon) and were therefore once placed in the same order (Columbiformes). Their drinking behaviour only partly resembles that of the pigeons, and other behaviour in which the two groups are similar is not unique to either. Some ornithologists suggest that the sandgrouse are nearer to the plovers; however, the sandgrouse are currently assigned to their own order (Pteroclidiformes).

      Other families that have been variously placed in the Charadriiformes or Gruiformes are the Otididae (bustards (bustard)), Burhinidae, and Glareolidae. The classification of the members of the order has stabilized, however, owing to consistent results from modern biochemical and anatomical studies. The assignment from the Gruiformes of the plains wanderer (Pedionomidae) represents the most recent major addition to this order.

Richard L. Zusi

Additional Reading

Henry Seebohm, The Geographical Distribution of the Family Charadriidae (1888), is a classic well-illustrated monograph that includes the Scolopacidae. Paul A. Johnsgard, The Plovers, Sandpipers, and Snipes of the World (1981), contains extensive information on these species. Form and function are treated in J. Bedard, “Adaptive Radiation in Alcidae,” Ibis, 111:189–198 (1969), on feeding adaptations; F.A. Hartman, Locomotor Mechanisms of Birds (1961); R. Meinertzhagen, “The Speed and Altitude of Bird Flight,” Ibis, 97:81–117 (1955); R.W. Storer, “Evolution in the Diving Birds,” Proceedings of the XII International Ornithological Congress (1960), pp. 694–707, on locomotor adaptations; and Richard L. Zusi, Structural Adaptations of the Head and Neck in the Black Skimmer (Rynchops nigra Linnaeus) (1962), a technical discussion of feeding behaviour and adaptations. Works on natural history include R.H. Drent, “Breeding Biology of the Pigeon Guillemot, Cepphus columba,” Ardea, 53:99–160 (1965); Desmond Nethersole-Thompson, The Greenshank (1951), a complete life history account; Ralph S. Palmer, A Behavior Study of the Common Tern (Sterna hirundo hirundo L.) (1941); N. Tinbergen, The Herring Gull's World (1953, reissued 1989), an exceptionally clearly written behavioral study; and Gardner D. Stout (ed.), The Shorebirds of North America (1967), with excellent illustrations and detailed species accounts. Taxonomic works include Walter Joseph Bock, “A Generic Review of the Plovers (Charadriinae, Aves),” Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, vol. 118, no. 2 (1958), on the function and value of traditional taxonomic characters; Joseph R. Jehl, Jr., Relationships in the Charadrii (Shorebirds): A Taxonomic Study Based on Color Patterns of the Downy Young (1968), a discussion of a taxonomic character not previously emphasized; P.R. Lowe, “An Anatomical Review of the ‘Waders' (Telmatomorphae) with Special Reference to the Families, Subfamilies and Genera Within the Suborders Limicolae, Grui-Limicolae, and Lari-Limicolae,” Ibis, 13th ser., 1:712–771 (1931), an important classification based mainly on anatomy; and Martin Moynihan, “A Revision of the Family Laridae (Aves),” American Museum Novitates, no. 1928 (1959), the basis for many classifications of gulls and terns.Richard L. Zusi Ed.

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