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
Malaysian plover Malaysian plover The Malaysian plover ("Charadrius peronii") is a small (c. 35–42 g) wader that nests on beaches and salt flats in Southeast Asia. The Malaysian plover is 15 cm (5.9 in) in length. The male can be recognized by a thin black band around the neck; the female has a thin brown band. Its legs are pale. Its voice is a soft "twit". The Malaysian plover lays two to five (mode of three) cryptic eggs on small scrapes on beaches. The eggs are incubated by both the male and female for about 30 days, and then both parents care