Waders
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes (partim)
Suborders
Charadrii Chionidi Scolopaci Thinocori

Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons), are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas (Stercorariidae), gulls (Laridae), terns (Sternidae), skimmers (Rynchopidae), and auks (Alcidae). Also, the pratincoles (Glareolidae) and the Crab Plover (Dromadidae), which bear greater resemblance to waders, are closely related to the seabirds.

This leaves about 210^{[verification needed]} species, most of which are associated with wetland or coastal environments. Many species of Arctic and temperate regions are strongly migratory, but tropical birds are often resident, or move only in response to rainfall patterns. Some of the Arctic species, such as Little Stint, are amongst the longest distance migrants, spending the non-breeding season in the southern hemisphere.

The majority of species eat small invertebrates picked out of mud or exposed soil. Different lengths of bills enable different species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. Many waders have sensitive nerve endings at the end of their bills which enable them to detect prey items hidden in mud or soft soil. Some larger species, particularly those adapted to drier habitats will take larger prey including insects and small reptiles.

Many of the smaller species found in coastal habitats, particularly but not exclusively the calidrids, are often named as "sandpipers", but this term does not have a strict meaning, since the Upland Sandpiper is a grassland species.

The smallest member of this group is the Least Sandpiper, small adults of which can weigh as little as 15.5 grams and measure just over 13 cm (5 inches). The largest species is believed to be the Eastern Curlew, at about 63 cm (25 inches) and 860 grams (1.9 lb), although the Beach Thick-knee, is the heaviest at about 1 kg (2.2 lb).

In the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, waders and many other groups are subsumed into a greatly enlarged Ciconiiformes order. However, the classification of the Charadriiformes is one of the weakest points of the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, as DNA-DNA hybridization has turned out to be incapable of properly resolving the interrelationships of the group. Formerly, the waders were united in a single suborder Charadrii, but this has turned out to be a "wastebasket taxon", uniting no less than four charadriiform lineages in a paraphyletic assemblage. However, it indicated that the Plains Wanderer actually belonged into one of them. Following recent studies (Ericson et al., 2003; Paton et al., 2003; Thomas et al., 2004a, b; van Tuinen et al., 2004; Paton & Baker, 2006), the waders may be more accurately subdivided as follows:

Waders roosting on the beach at high tide

Waders in flight

• Suborder Scolopaci
  • Family Scolopacidae: snipe, sandpipers, phalaropes, and allies

• Suborder Thinocori
  • Family Rostratulidae: painted snipe
  • Family Jacanidae: jacanas
  • Family Thinocoridae: seedsnipe
  • Family Pedionomidae: Plains Wanderer

• Suborder Chionidi
  • Family Burhinidae: thick-knees
  • Family Chionididae: sheathbills
  • Family Pluvianellidae: Magellanic Plover

• Suborder Charadrii
  • Family Ibidorhynchidae: Ibisbill
  • Family Recurvirostridae: avocets and stilts
  • Family Haematopodidae: oystercatchers
  • Family Charadriidae: plovers and lapwings

In keeping more in line with the traditional grouping, the Thinocori could be included in the Scolopaci, and the Chionidi in the Charadrii. However, the increasing knowledge about the early evolutionary history of modern birds suggests that the assumption of Paton et al. (2003) and Thomas et al. (2004b) of 4 distinct "wader" lineages (= suborders) already being present around the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary is correct.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charadriiformes

• Hybridisation in shorebirds

References[link]

• Ericson, P. G. P.; Envall, I.; Irestedt, M. & Norman, J. A. (2003): Inter-familial relationships of the shorebirds (Aves: Charadriiformes) based on nuclear DNA sequence data. BMC Evol. Biol. 3: 16. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-3-16 PDF fulltext

• Paton, Tara A. & Baker, Allan J. (2006): Sequences from 14 mitochondrial genes provide a well-supported phylogeny of the Charadriiform birds congruent with the nuclear RAG-1 tree. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(3): 657–667. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.011 (HTML abstract)

• Paton, T. A.; Baker, A. J.; Groth, J. G. & Barrowclough, G. F. (2003): RAG-1 sequences resolve phylogenetic relationships within charadriiform birds. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29: 268-278. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00098-8 (HTML abstract)

• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004a): Phylogeny of shorebirds, gulls, and alcids (Aves: Charadrii) from the cytochrome-b gene: parsimony, Bayesian inference, minimum evolution, and quartet puzzling. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30(3): 516-526. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00222-7 (HTML abstract)

• Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004b): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. BMC Evol. Biol. 4: 28. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 PMID 15329156 PDF fulltext Supplementary Material

• van Tuinen, Marcel; Waterhouse, David & Dyke, Gareth J. (2004): Avian molecular systematics on the rebound: a fresh look at modern shorebird phylogenetic relationships. Journal of Avian Biology 35(3): 191-194. PDF fulltext

Peter Horton
Horton at the Governor's Ball, following the 40th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, 1988
Born	(1953-08-20) August 20, 1953 (age 58) Bellevue, Washington
Spouse	Michelle Pfeiffer (1981-1988) Nicole Deputron (1995-present)

Peter Horton (born August 20, 1953) is an American actor and director. He played the role of Prof. Gary Shepherd on the popular television series Thirtysomething until 1991.

Early life[link]

Horton was born in Bellevue, Washington to a father who worked in the shipping business.^[1] He attended Redwood High School and Principia College.^[2][3]

Career[link]

During his run on Thirtysomething, People magazine named him one of the "50 Most Beautiful People". Horton acted in television shows including St. Elsewhere, The White Shadow, Dallas, Eight Is Enough, "In Treatment" and The Geena Davis Show, played the lead in the short-lived series Brimstone, and played Crane McFadden in the one season series (1982–1983) "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". He played Jacob in the 1982 feature film Split Image, Father Mahoney in the 1986 feature film "Where the River Runs Black" Roy Fox in the 1996 film "Two Days In The Valley" and played Burt in the 1984 Stephen King movie Children of the Corn. He also appeared in the 1997 TV movie version of the Jon Krakauer book Into Thin Air: Death on Everest, playing Scott Fischer, the leader of the disastrous 1996 climb on Mount Everest. He was also in the movie Sideout (1990) as Zach Barnes,a down and out ex-volley ball champ. As a director he has worked on several television series including The Shield, Thirtysomething, The Wonder Years, Once and Again, and directed the pilot for Grey's Anatomy as well as pilots for Class of '96, Birdland, Dirty Sexy Money, The Philanthropist and Reconstruction. He directed the 1990 film for television "Extreme Close-up" as well as the 1995 feature film The Cure. As a producer he produced Reconstruction (which he co-created), Lone Star, The Philanthropist, The Body Politic (which he also co-created), Grey's Anatomy, Six Degrees and Murder Live (which he wrote the story for).

He appeared in Who Killed the Electric Car? and is on the board of directors of the Environmental Alliance.^{[4][dead link]}

As of 2010 Horton is an executive producer and director of Grey's Anatomy on ABC, and produces and directs NBC's The Philanthropist.

Personal life[link]

Horton was married to Michelle Pfeiffer from 1981 to 1988, and has been married to Nicole Deputron since 1995. Horton and Deputron have two children. Their daughter Lily was born in October 1999, their daughter Ruby in 2002.

He is a brother-in-law of Egil Krogh,^{[citation needed]} a former White House Plumbers member who was convicted in the Watergate scandal.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Peter Horton at the Internet Movie Database