- Any one of several species of small plovers of the genus
Aegialitis, having a ring around the neck. The ring is black in summer,
but becomes brown or gray in winter. The semipalmated plover (Ae.
semipalmata) and the piping plover (Ae. meloda) are common North
American species. Called also ring plover, and ring-necked plover. - The ring-necked duck.