Plovers and lapwings

Plovers and lapwings are familar, often colourful, shorebirds. They hunt by sight using a run-and-pause technique before snatching up insects and worms with their short pointed bills. This is quite a different technique to long-billed waders which hunt by probing. There are around 70 species in the family, including the larger lapwings and the smaller plovers and dotterels. They have a worldwide distribution, except in the Antarctic, preferring open countryside such as wetlands, shorelines and farmland.

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