The suborder Charadrii consists of waders. In North America, waders are referred to as shoebirds. They are prototypical members of the order Charadriiformes. This order excludes all web-footed marine bird groups. This latter group comprises skuas, gulls, skimmers, terns and auks. All these birds, including the Crab Plover resemble the wader very closely and bear semblance to seabirds as well.

Many relatives of the Charadrii live in wetland environments. Sometimes, these environments happen to be in coastal areas. All the species that live in temperate climates are adapted migrating every now and then, over very long distances. In sharp contrast, tropical birds only migrate in response to rainfall patterns and even then, they do not move over long distances.

Little Stint is one of the migratory arctic species. This species covers the longest distance compared to all other Charadriis. It spends all non-breeding seasons in the comfort of Southern Hemisphere.

Feeding habits

Many species that fall under this suborder feed on small invertebrates. The invertebrates are normally collected in mud, pebbles and exposed soil. Different species have bills that are shaped differently and this enables them to survive in the same habitat, especially along coastlines.

Majority of waders have nerve endings at their bill ends. These nerve endings are important when it comes to prey detection. Most of the prey that is hidden in soft soil or mud is easily detected and unearthed.

Adaptation

Larger species depend on small reptiles and insects for food. They are adapted to living in dry habitats without having to face life-threatening challenges. These larger waders can live away from the coastal water. On the other hand, small species rely mainly on coastal habitats. A good example is calidrids, which many people refer to as sandpipers. This is a grassland species and the term “sandpipers” should not be interpreted in its strictest semantic sense.

The Least Sandpiper is the smallest member of this particular group. According to the Sibley-Ahlquist system of taxonomy, waders are as well as many other groups, ordinarily subsumed to belong to the Ciconiiformes order. This order has been much enlarged in recent times. However, this system of taxonomy has a great weakness by the classification that has been made on the Charadriiformes. Present DNA hybridization techniques have not quite succeeded in resolving problems that dwell on interrelationships between members of the same order.

Suborders such as Charadrii are very important in understanding the interrelationships that exist between different organisms. These interrelationships are very critical to understanding evolutionary history of modern birds. Wader lineages are always at the center of all these studies.

Family Dromadidae and its links with Charadrii

The family Dromadidae belongs to the sub-order Charadrii. The birds in this groups are medium-sized. Their entire bodies are black and their bills look like daggers. The lower mandible is heavily angled. The height of these birds ranges between 13 and 16 inches. In this case, these birds are of the same height with the wader. This is where the relationship arises. Like the wader, members of this group inhabit coastal dunes, coral reefs and mudflats.