Egyptian plover to feed on decaying meat lodged between the crocodiles' teeth. The identification of the trochilus with any particular plover is doubtful, as is the cleaning symbiosis itself; no known photographic evidence exists, and the written accounts are considered suspect by the biologist Thomas Howell. Egyptian plover The Egyptian plover ("Pluvianus aegyptius"), also known as the crocodile bird, is a wader, the only member of the genus "Pluvianus". Formerly placed in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae, it is now regarded as the sole member of its own monotypic family Pluvianidae. The species is one of several plovers doubtfully associated with
American golden plover tundra, fields, beaches and tidal flats, usually by sight. They eat insects and crustaceans. Large numbers were shot in the late 19th century and the population has never fully recovered. American golden plover The American golden plover ("Pluvialis dominica") is a medium-sized plover. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from "pluvia", "rain". It was believed that golden plovers flocked when rain was imminent. The species name "dominica" refers to Santo Domingo, now Hispaniola, in the West Indies. The breeding adult American golden plover has a black face, neck, breast, and belly, with a white crown and