Egyptian plover 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 the "trochilus" bird mentioned in a supposed cleaning symbiosis with the Nile crocodile. The Egyptian plover is a striking and unmistakable species. The 19–21 cm long adult has a black crown, back, eye-mask and breast band. The rest of the head is white. The
Mountain plover Mountain plover The mountain plover ("Charadrius montanus") is a medium-sized ground bird in the plover family (Charadriidae). It is misnamed, as it lives on level land. Unlike most plovers, it is usually not found near bodies of water or even on wet soil; it prefers dry habitat with short grass (usually due to grazing) and bare ground. The word "plover" came from a Latin world "pluvia" which means "rain". In Medieval England some migratory birds became known as plovers because they returned to their breeding grounds each spring with rain. In 1832 American naturalist John Kirk Townsend spotted a species