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
Forbes's plover Forbes's plover The Forbes’s plover or Forbes’s banded plover ("Charadrius forbesi") is a small wader. This plover is resident in much of west Africa, mainly on inland rivers, pools and lakes. Its nest is a scrape lined with small pebbles in rocky uplands. After breeding in the wet season, this bird moves to open grasslands, including airfields and golf courses, in the dry season. It is sometimes seen at pools or reservoirs. The adult Forbes’ plover is 20 cm in length. It has long wings and a long tail, and therefore looks different from most other small plovers in flight,