12. Charadriiformes (Plover-like Waders)

The ibisbill belongs to the order Charadriiformes which also includes the sandpipers, plovers, terns, auks, gulls, skuas and others. Although its evolutionary relationships are not fully understood, the ibisbill appears to be most closely related to a group including the oystercatchers, avocets, stilts and Pluvialis plovers, but sufficiently distinctive to merit its own family, Ibidorhynchidae.
   The Recurvirostridae are a family of birds in the wader suborder Charadrii. It contains two distinct groups of birds, the avocets (one genus) and the stilts
   The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia (two genera).
   The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all.