Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) is found along the northern shores of the western Indian Ocean in countries such as India and Saudi Arabia. This can be seen on the shores of Madagascar and eastern Africa. This can be seen as far east as Pakistan, western India, with visitation to Malaysia and Thailand. This breeds primarily on the coastal areas of India, Somalia, and the Arabian area. The black wing tips and black bill help identify this long-legged 16 inch shorebird. The head, neck, upper and lower breast and belly are all white. The large bill is black. There is some black trim visible near the wing edges when standing. This species travels in flocks and appears to live primarily on crabs. There is an excellent series of images on page 14 of the Rosair book on the Waders of the World.

There are no subspecies.

Crab curlew genus (Dromas) contains a single species. Some authors have placed this species with the Curlews in the family Burhinidae. However, recent research seems to indicate this species should have its own family. Both Rosair in his book with Cottridge on the waders of the world (1995) and Monroe with his world bird checklist (1993) place this species in its own family. (Monroe, however, makes the Dromadidae the subfamily Dromadinae as his list has many more taxonomic levels than most publications.)

Crab plover family (Dromadidae equal Dromadinae)contains a single species. This species is found along the shores of the Indian Ocean from Africa and Madagascar east to India.

Shorebirds (Order Charadriformes) are a group of 305 species of worldwide birds. While good fliers, they are much observed feeding along seashores and in the vicinity of inland bodies of water. Seagulls and sandpipers are typical representatives of this order.

There are many different families herein, and most authors end up with about 18 different families. Other groups included herein include the plovers, curlews, coursers, oyster catchers, jacanas, terns, phalaropes, plovers, stilts and avocets, skimmers, snipes, jaegers, and auks and puffins.

Aves contains about 8,650 different species of living birds known to science. Each year about one new species is discovered in some remote rain forest or remote island. In addition, scientists have been raising many subspecies to full species status which may raise the species count to 10,000. Birdlife recognizes 10,027 species as of 2011.

However, each year about one species goes extinct. The rate of extinction is increasing, and the rate of new discovery is decreasing, so that the number of bird species will soon begin to decline rapidly. Although different taxonomists would organize the birds differently, there are approximately twenty-seven orders of birds. These orders are broken down into about one hundred and fifty-five different families.

Recent research of the genetic structure of some of the shore birds and owls would indicate that the present organization of orders and families should have some modification.

The birds are a worldwide group of animals that are characterized by having the front limbs modified into wings that are used for flying. Perhaps the most unique feature of the birds is the feathers. These feathers are made up of a central support called a quill and a series of small filaments that are hooked together as barbs.

For many years it was believed that Archaeopteryx discovered in Bavaria was the oldest bird from about 150 million years ago. However, in l986, Sankar Chattterjee, a Texas paleontologist, reportedly discovered a bird in the genus Protoavis that lived about 225 million years ago.

When this project was begun in 1978, we used Austin & Singer for bird taxonomy. Since then, we have adopted many changes, but have kept some older concepts that are still found widely in the literature. Recently, we have used Clements and Howard & Moore. Very recently, we have used Monroe and Sibley for the higher taxonomy of the perching birds.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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