The Caspian plover (Charadrius asiaticus) is a wader in the plover family of birds. The genus name Charadrius is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek kharadrios a bird found in ravines and river valleys (kharadra, "ravine"). The specific asiaticus is Latin and means "Asian", although in binomials it usually means the type locality was India. This plover breeds in western and central Asia and migrates southward to eastern and southern Africa to escape the northern winter.