Charadriidae
The bird family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels, and lapwings, about 64 to 66 species in all. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They range in size from the Collared Plover, at 26 grams and 14 cm, to the Masked Lapwing, at 368 grams and 35 cm.
They are distributed through open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water, although there are some exceptions: the Inland Dotterel, for example, prefers stony ground in the deserts of central and western Australia.
Most members of the family are known as plovers, lapwings or dotterels. These were rather vague terms which were not applied with any great consistency in the past. In general, larger species have often been called lapwings, smaller species plovers or dotterels and there are in fact two clear taxonomic sub-groups: most lapwings belong to the subfamily Vanellinae, most plovers and dotterels to Charadriinae.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charadriidae - 12.10.2010
Charadriidae
The pubescence of this Charadriidae chick looks like a coat, because it is so close and gentle.