I guess it's a bit like the recent debate on capitalisation - a "little
lorrikeet" is not necessarily the same as a "Little Lorrikeet". Similarly
Shorebirds can mean two things - birds you find by the shore (so excludes
Plains Wanderer but includes Gulls, Terns and some other birds) or the order
Charadriiformes which has 214 species (also known as waders) MOST of whom
like the shoreline but quite a few do not!
On 17/01/2008, L&L Knight <> wrote:
>
> If the classification rule for "shorebirds" was "mostly grey birds
> that spend most of the day standing around" then emus would also
> qualify. I expect the reason that they aren't classified as
> shorebirds has more to do with the fact that they don't fly than the
> amount of time they spend around shores.
>
> Regards, Laurie.
>
> On 17/01/2008, at 5:55 AM, Dave Torr wrote:
>
> > Not really - not all "waders" wade - some are much happier inland.
> > Banded
> > Lapwings and Inland Dotterels are two examples that spring to mind
> > that
> > rarely get their toes wet! The grouping into "families" is done on
> > lots of
> > characteristics, not just the habitat and "Shorebirds" is generally
> > taken to
> > mean a specific scientific group. One could argue that a Silver Gull
> > is a
> > shorebird as you find it at the seaside, but it does not fit in the
> > relevant
> > scientific group so I expect it will not be in your book.
> >
> > On 17/01/2008, Peter Shute <> wrote:
> >>
> >> I just bought "Shorebirds of Australia", and was surprised to see
> >> that it
> >> covers Plains-wanderer. I can understand their explanation that it's
> >> closely related to other shorebirds, but if it doesn't look or act
> >> like one,
> >> why include it?
> >>
> >> I'
>
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