Are US and European Plovers really birds of a feather?

The Kentish-Snowy Plover, a small shorebird found in the US and Europe, is suffering from an identity crisis after scientists at the University of Sheffield and the University of Bath have found genetic evidence that the populations are, in fact, separate species. Historically, biologists classified the Kentish Plover, found in Europe, and its look-a-like, the Snowy Plover, from the US, as being different varieties of the same species due to their similar looks. But whilst their true identity has been long debated by biologists, this is the first time that scientists have found proof that the birds belong to different species. Scientists from the University, along with colleagues at the University of Bath, analysed the DNA of 166 birds from two different American populations of Snowy Plover, four Eurasian populations of Kentish Plover, and one African population of a closely related species, the White-fronted Plover. They found that the European birds were more similar to their African cousins than to their relatives in America, indicating that the bird population split and colonised America, where they became Snowy Plovers, before splitting again to produce Kentish and White-fronted plovers. These findings could prove important in the conservation of the Snowy Plovers, which are listed as threatened and the researchers hope next to map exactly how the Snowy Plovers colonised America. Professor of Molecular Ecology, Terence Burke, from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield, said: "The research will hopefully make a huge difference.