Glareolidae
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Glareolidae
Glareolidae is a family of birds in the wader suborder Lari. It contains two distinct groups, the pratincoles and the coursers. The atypical Egyptian plover (''Pluvianus aegyptius''), traditionally placed in this family, is now known to be only distantly related (basal of clade Charadrii). The family contains 17 species in 4 genera. Description The feature that defines the family from the rest of the order is the bill, which is arched and has the nostrils at the base. The pratincoles have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails. They have a buoyant flight that allows them the unusual (for the order) hunting technique of taking their insect prey on the wing like swallows. The wings also allow for long migrations in some species. The coursers have long legs, which are used to run (giving the group its name). The wings are shorter and have a more sustained flight than that of the pratincoles. Distribution and habitat The pratincoles and coursers have an Old W ...
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Burchell's Courser
Burchell's courser (''Cursorius rufus'') is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell. Native to Africa, Burchell's courser is a small, diurnal, and terrestrial bird that lives in the western parts of southern Africa. Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey (usually Harvester Termites) by running on the ground. It principally feeds off of insects and lives in open, short grasslands and burnt veld. It grows up to and on average weighs about as an adult. Description Burchell's courser has a graceful figure and an upright posture. It has a blue-grey hind crown which is mainly how it differs from the similar Temminck's courser. It also has a horizontal black band demarcating a white underbelly, and an overall pale rufous colour. Its face features white supercilia above black eye lines, all ...
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Stiltia
The Australian pratincole (''Stiltia isabella'') is a species of bird in the family Glareolidae. It breeds in Australia's interior and winters in northern and eastern parts of the continent, Indonesia and New Guinea. It is a medium-sized nomadic shorebird but is commonly found in arid inland Australia. It breeds predominantly from south-western Queensland to northern Victoria, and through central Australia to the Kimberley region in Western Australia. The Australian population is estimated at 60,000 individuals. They are a migratory species that generally move to the southern parts of their distribution range to breed during spring and summer. During winter they migrate to northern Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sulawesi and southern Borneo.Geering, A., Agnew, L. & Harding, S. (2007). Shorebirds of Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood. Although they are common, their occurrence is unpredictable and varies in location.Morcombe, M.(2003). Field guide to Australian birds. Steve Pa ...
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Egyptian Plover
The Egyptian plover (''Pluvianus aegyptius''), also known as the crocodile bird, is a wader, the only member of the genus ''Pluvianus''. It occurs in a band across Sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east and south to parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It no longer occurs in Egypt. The species was formerly placed with the pratincoles and coursers in the family, Glareolidae, but is now regarded as the sole member of its own monotypic family Pluvianidae. The species is one of several plovers doubtfully associated with the "trochilus" bird mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus in a supposed cleaning symbiosis with the Nile crocodile. Taxonomy The Egyptian plover was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it in the genus ''Charadrius'' and coined the binomial name ''Charadrius aegyptius''. Linnaeus based his account on the description by the Swedish n ...
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Glareolinae
The pratincoles or greywaders are a subfamily (Glareolinae) of birds which together with the coursers make up the family Glareolidae. They have short legs, very long pointed wings and long forked tails. Description Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. Their short bills are an adaptation to aerial feeding. Their flight is fast and graceful like a swallow or a tern, with many twists and turns to pursue their prey. They are most active at dawn and dusk, resting in the warmest part of the day. Like the coursers, the pratincoles are found in warmer parts of the Old World, from southern Europe and Africa east through Asia to Australia. Species breeding in temperate regions are long-distance migrants. Their two to four eggs are laid on the ground in a bare scrape. The downy pratincole chicks are able to run as soon as they are hatched. The Australian ...
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Wader
245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, forage for food crawling or burrowing in the mud and sand, usually small arthropods such as aquatic insects or crustaceans. The term "wader" is used in Europe, while "shorebird" is used in North America, where "wader" may be used instead to refer to long-legged wading birds such as storks and herons. There are about 210 species of wader, most of which live in 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 the little stint, are amongst the longest distance migrants, spending the non- breeding season in the southern hemisphere. Many of the smaller species found ...
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Pratincole
The pratincoles or greywaders are a subfamily (Glareolinae) of birds which together with the coursers make up the family Glareolidae. They have short legs, very long pointed wings and long forked tails. Description Their most unusual feature for birds classed as wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...s is that they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like hirundinidae, swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. Their short bills are an adaptation to aerial feeding. Their flight is fast and graceful like a swallow or a tern, with many twists and turns to pursue their prey. They are most active at dawn and dusk, resting in the warmest part of the day. Like the coursers, the pratincoles are found in warmer parts of the Old World, from southern Eur ...
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Courser
The coursers are a subfamily (Cursoriinae) of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. They have cryptic plumage and crouch down when alarmed to avoid detection by predators. Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by running. Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground. Species in taxonomic order *Cream-colored courser ''Cursorius cursor'' * Somali courser ''Cursorius somalensis'' * Temminck's courser ''Cursorius temminckii '' *Indian courser ''Cursorius coromandelicus'' *Burchell's courser Burchell's courser (''Cursorius rufus'') is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell. Native to Africa, Burchell ...
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Cursoriinae
The coursers are a subfamily (Cursoriinae) of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. They have cryptic plumage and crouch down when alarmed to avoid detection by predators. Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by running. Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground. Species in taxonomic order *Cream-colored courser ''Cursorius cursor'' *Somali courser ''Cursorius somalensis'' *Temminck's courser ''Cursorius temminckii '' *Indian courser ''Cursorius coromandelicus'' *Burchell's courser ''Cursorius rufus'' *Double-banded courser or two-banded courser, ''Rhinoptilus africanus'' *Three-banded courser or Heuglin's courser, ''Rhinoptilus cinctus'' *Bronze-winged courser or violet-tipped courser, ''Rhinopt ...
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Courser
The coursers are a subfamily (Cursoriinae) of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. They have cryptic plumage and crouch down when alarmed to avoid detection by predators. Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by running. Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground. Species in taxonomic order *Cream-colored courser ''Cursorius cursor'' * Somali courser ''Cursorius somalensis'' * Temminck's courser ''Cursorius temminckii '' *Indian courser ''Cursorius coromandelicus'' *Burchell's courser Burchell's courser (''Cursorius rufus'') is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell. Native to Africa, Burchell ...
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Pratincole
The pratincoles or greywaders are a subfamily (Glareolinae) of birds which together with the coursers make up the family Glareolidae. They have short legs, very long pointed wings and long forked tails. Description Their most unusual feature for birds classed as wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...s is that they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like hirundinidae, swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. Their short bills are an adaptation to aerial feeding. Their flight is fast and graceful like a swallow or a tern, with many twists and turns to pursue their prey. They are most active at dawn and dusk, resting in the warmest part of the day. Like the coursers, the pratincoles are found in warmer parts of the Old World, from southern Eur ...
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Glareola Lactea
The small pratincole, little pratincole, or small Indian pratincole (''Glareola lactea'') is a small wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. Distribution The small pratincole is a resident breeder in India, Western Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It breeds from December to March on gravel or sand banks near rivers and lakes, laying 2–4 eggs in a ground scrape. Breeding areas include small areas in northern Karnataka (manvi district raichur.(and along the Hemavathi River) and northern Kerala near Kannur. This species is only in length, with a wingspan. Because of its small size, the small pratincole can be briefly confused in flight with swifts or swallows. Description This bird has short legs, long pointed wings and a short tail. Its short bill is an adaptation to aerial feeding. On the ground, it looks mainly pale grey (hence ''lactea'', milky). The crown of the head is brown. The wings are grey above with black primaries and blac ...
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Rhinoptilus
'' Rhinoptilus '' is a genus of coursers, a group of wading birds. There are four species, which breed in Africa and South Asia. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Although classed as waders, they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by sight, pursuing them on foot. Species in the genus have earlier been placed under other genus names including ''Macrotarsius'' (Blyth), ''Chalcopterus'' (Reich.) and ''Hemerodromus'' (Heuglin). Some characteristics of this largely African genus include a bill that is shorter and stouter than in ''Cursorius '' Cursorius '' is a genus of coursers, a group of wading birds. The genus name derive from Latin ''cursor'' meaning "runner". There are five species which breed in Africa and South Asia. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bill ...'', the orbits are feathered and the 2nd and 3rd ...
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