What is "semipalmated plover"

Plover \Plov"er\, n. [OF. plovier, F. pluvier, prop., the rain bird, fr. LL. (assumed) pluviarius, fr. L. pluvia rain, from pluere to rain; akin to E. float, G. fliessen to flow. See Float.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds belonging to the family Charadrid[ae], and especially those belonging to the subfamily Charadrins[ae]. They are prized as game birds.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any grallatorial bird allied to, or resembling, the true plovers, as the crab plover ( Dromas ardeola); the American upland, plover ( Bartramia longicauda); and other species of sandpipers. Note: Among the more important species are the blackbellied plover or blackbreasted plover ( Charadrius squatarola) of America and Europe; -- called also gray plover, bull-head plover, Swiss plover, sea plover, and oxeye; the golden plover (see under Golden); the ring plover or ringed plover ( [AE]gialitis hiaticula). See Ringneck. The piping plover ( [AE]gialitis meloda); Wilson's plover ( [AE]gialitis Wilsonia); the mountain plover ( [AE]gialitis montana); and the semipalmated plover ( [AE]gialitis semipalmata), are all small American species. Bastard plover (Zo["o]l.), the lapwing. Long-legged plover, or yellow-legged plover. See Tattler. Plover's page, the dunlin. [Prov. Eng.] Rock plover, or Stone plover, the black-bellied plover. Whistling plover.

   1. The golden plover.

   2. The black-bellied plover.

The semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) is a small plover. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific '' semipalmatus '' is Latin and comes from semi, "half" and palma, "palm". Like the English name, this refers to its only partly webbed feet.