Charadrius is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. Species of the genera Aegialites (or Aegialitis), Thinornis, and Elseyornis were subsumed within Charadrius; these species are now part of this genus. The former genus name Thinornis combined the Ancient Greek this meaning "beach" or "sand" with ornis meaning "bird". They are found throughout the world.

Many Charadrius species are characterised by their plumage pattern, being breast bands or collars. In the adult, the patterns are single complete bands (ringed, semipalmated, little ringed, long-billed), or double or triple bands (killdeer, three-banded, Forbes'). They have relatively short bills and feed mainly on insects, worms, or other invertebrates, depending on habitat. Prey is obtained by a run-and-pause technique, rather than the steady probing of some other wader groups; they hunt by sight, rather than by feel (tactile sense) as do longer-billed waders like snipe or curlews.

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