CHARADRIIFORM

large and diverse order of birds (Charadriiformes) that includes the shorebirds, gulls, auks, and their relatives. Their plumage usually is gray, white, brown, or black, and many have bright red or yellow feet, bills, wattles, eyes, or mouth linings. They can be found throughout the world, nesting on the ground and feeding in or near water. Most are strong flyers, and some species perform the most extensive migrations of any birds. One ruddy turnstone (Arenaria interpes) was recaptured four days after banding; it had travelled 2,325 miles (3,770 kilometres). There are 16 families in the order. Basically, they fall into three main subgroups: the suborder Charadrii (200 species of shorebirds or waters, such as sandpipers, plovers, and lapwings); the suborder Lari (92 species of long-winged, web-footed birds, such as gulls, terns, skimmers, skuas, and jaegers); and the suborder Alcae (21 species of auks, murres, guillemots, and puffins). Charadriiforms provide many benefits to humans. Shorebirds generally are good scavengers. Murres, puffins, gulls, terns, and lapwings lay eggs that have long been harvested for food by certain cultures. Feathers from some of these species have been used for decoration. Gulls consume many field pests and some shorebirds are hunted for sport. However, these birds have proved hazards at airports where they occasionally collide with airplanes. Herring gull (Larus argentatus) (order Charadriiformes), any of the group that includes the shorebirds, gulls (see photograph), auks, 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 food in or near water. The order is worldwide in distribution, and some species perform the most extensive migrations of any birds. 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, 111:189198 (1969), on feeding adaptations; F.A. Hartman, Locomotor Mechanisms of Birds (1961); R. Meinertzhagen, The Speed and Altitude of Bird Flight, Ibis, 97:81117 (1955); R.W. Storer, Evolution in the Diving Birds, Proceedings of the XII International Ornithological Congress (1960), pp. 694707, 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, 53:99160 (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., 1:712771 (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 The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica