Belongs within: Charadriidae.
The genus Charadrius contains the ringed and sand plovers. The members of this genus are small to medium-sized plovers characterised by a colour pattern with at least some degree of development of a band across the breast and/or a black forehead and black line connecting the bill and eye.
Recent phylogenetic analyses have not supported monophyly of Charadrius as historically recognised, placing some species closer to other genera such as Thinornis and Eudromias. As such, Charadrius should be restricted to those species closest to the type species, the common ringed plover C. hiaticula. This northern European and North American species exhibits both a black face mask and black breast band.
<==Charadrius Linnaeus 1758 (see below for synonymy)CC10
|--C. vociferus Linnaeus 1758BKB15, L58
`--+--C. semipalmatus Bonaparte 1825BKB15, CC10 [=Aegialeus semipalmatusS05, Aegialitis semipalmataS18]
`--+--*C. hiaticula Linnaeus 1758CC10, BKB15, CC10 (see below for synonymy)
| |--C. h. hiaticulaR85
| `--C. h. tundraeR85
`--C. melodusBKB15
Charadrius incertae sedis:
C. aegyptius Linnaeus 1758L58
C. asiaticus (Pallas 1773)JT12, WS48 [=*Eupoda asiaticaCC10, *Eupodella asiaticaCC10]
C. cinctusSJ85
C. cristatus Linnaeus 1758L58
C. cucullatus Vieillot 1818 (see below for synonymy)WS48
C. cursor [incl. Cursorius europaeus]F17
‘Aegialitis’ falclandicaS05
C. forbesiJT12
C. javanicusJT12
C. minorB42
‘Aegialitis’ monachusN87
‘Aegialitis’ nigrifronsN87
C. nivifrons [incl. C. tenellus]Sch66
C. nivosusAP21
C. obscurus Gmelin 1789 (see below for synonymy)CC10
|--C. o. obscurus [incl. C. glareola Forster in Wagler 1829]CC10
`--C. o. aquilonius Dowding 1994CC10
C. oedicnemus Linnaeus 1758L58
C. pallidusJT12
C. pecuarius Temminck 1823PB96
C. peroniiJT12
C. placidusJT12
C. sanctaehelenaeJT12
C. sheppardianus Cope 1880M09
C. spinosus Linnaeus 1758L58
C. thoracicusJT12
C. tricollarisJT12 [=Aegialitis tricollarisScl66]
Charadrius Linnaeus 1758 [=Aegialitis Boie 1822; incl. Eupoda Brandt in Tchihatcheff 1845, Eupodella Mathews 1913, Hyetoceryx Heine & Reichenow 1890, Pluviorhynchus Bonaparte 1856]CC10
Charadrius cucullatus Vieillot 1818 [incl. C. cucullatus torbayi Mathews 1912, C. cucullatus tregellasi Mathews 1912]WS48
*Charadrius hiaticula Linnaeus 1758CC10, JT12, CC10 [=*Aegialitis hiaticulaCC10, A. hiaticolaS05; incl. Charadrius hiaticula major Seebohm 1885S05, C. torquatusF17]
Charadrius obscurus Gmelin 1789 [=*Hyetoceryx obscurus, Octhodromus (l. c.) obscurus, Ochthodromus obscurus, *Pluviorhynchus obscurus]CC10
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[AP21] Arlott, N., & B. van Perlo. 2021. Collins Birds of the World. William Collins.
[B42] Blyth, E. 1842. Abstract of a letter relating to various species of birds which are found both in India and Europe. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 93–94.
[BKB15] Burleigh, J. G., R. T. Kimball & E. L. Braun. 2015. Building the avian tree of life using a large-scale, sparse supermatrix. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 53–63.
[CC10] Checklist Committee (OSNZ). 2010. Checklist of the Birds of New Zealand, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands, and the Ross Dependency, Antarctica, 4th ed. Ornithological Society of New Zealand and Te Papa Press: Wellington.
[F17] Forster, T. 1817. A synoptical catalogue of British birds; intended to identify the species mentioned by different names in several catalogues already extant. Forming a book of reference to observations on British ornithology. Nichols, Son, and Bentley: London.
[JT12] Jetz, W., G. H. Thomas, J. B. Joy, K. Hartmann & A. Ø. Mooers. 2012. The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature 491: 444–448.
[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis revised 10th ed. vol. 1. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.
[M09] Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer.
[N87] North, A. J. 1887. List of references to authentic descriptions of Australian birds’ eggs. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, series 2, 1 (4): 1163–1174.
[PB96] Palma, R. L., & S. C. Barker. 1996. Phthiraptera. In: Wells, A. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia vol. 26. Psocoptera, Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera pp. 81–247. CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.
[R85] Robertson, C. J. R. (ed.) 1985. Reader’s Digest Complete Book of New Zealand Birds. Reader’s Digest: Sydney.
[S05] Schalow, H. 1905. Die Vögel der Arktis. In: Römer, F., & F. Schaudinn (eds) Fauna Arctica. Eine Zusammenstellun der arktischen Tierformen, mit besonder Berücksichtigung des Spitzbergen-Gebietes auf Grund der Ergebnisse der Deutschen Expedition in das Nördliche Eismeer im Jahre 1898 vol. 4 pp. 79–288. Gustav Fischer: Jena.
[Sch66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[Scl66] Sclater, P. L. 1866. Report on birds collected at Windvogelberg, South Africa, by Capt. G. E. Bulger, C. M. Z. S. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 21–23.
[S18] Stone, W. 1918. Birds of the Panama Canal Zone, with special reference to a collection made by Mr. Lindsey L. Jewel. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 70: 239–280.
[SJ85] Storr, G. M., & R. E. Johnstone. 1985. Field Guide to the Birds of Western Australia 2nd ed. Western Australian Museum: Perth (Australia).
[WS48] Whittell, H. M., & D. L. Serventy. 1948. A systematic list of the birds of Western Australia. Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery of Western Australia, Special Publication 1: 1–126.