Overview

Oriental Pratincole: Small, gray-brown wader-like bird with white belly, vent, and rump. White crescent below eye, black border to white-buff throat. Long gray-brown wings, red-brown wing lining. White tail with black band, long outer tail feathers. Sexes similar, winter adult and juvenile lack red on bill and have less black on head and throat.

Voice Text

"chet", "kyik"

• An unusual feature of these birds is that, while they are classified as waders, they more commonly hunt their prey on the wing.
• On February 7, 2014, 2.5 million Oriental Pratincoles were recorded on Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia. This unusual occurrence is attributed to weather conditions.
• Other common names for the Oriental Pratincole include Grasshopper Bird and Swallow-plover.

Coursers and Pratincoles (Glareolidae)

ORDER

The sandpipers, plovers, terns, and pratincoles are four of the twenty-one families in the CHARADRIIFORMES (pronounced chu-rad-ri-FOR-meez).

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The coursers and pratincoles are placed in the glareolidae (pronounced glar-ee-OL-i-dee), a group of seventeen species in five genera found in southern and eastern Europe, Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australia.

SOUTH PACIFIC-PALAU

One species of this family in one genus occurs in the South Pacific. This species, the Oriental Pratincole, also occurs in Palau.

KNOWN FOR

Members of this family are known for their fairly small, slightly arched bills, and preference for open habitats.

PHYSICAL

Members of the glareolidae are small to medium birds with rather short, slightly arched beaks, long wings, short tails, and short legs (pratincoles), or fairly long legs (coursers).

COLORATION

Pratincoles and coursers are plumaged in shades of brown and gray, with patches of red-brown, white, and black. Pratincole species can also show red on the bill.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Most members of this family live in open grasslands and arid environments, although the Egyptian Plover of Africa and some pratincole species also live along rivers.

MIGRATION

Members of this family are sedentary except for a few pratincole species that migrate to tropical regions during the winter months. This includes occasional Oriental Pratincoles that migrate to Palau.

HABITS

Coursers are usually seen alone whereas pratincoles typically flock together. Coursers forage for insects and other small creatures by picking them off of the ground, whereas pratincoles catch insects in the air during swooping flight.

CONSERVATION

Most members of this family are common and have stable populations. The two exceptions are the Madagascan Pratincole and the Jerdon’s Courser. The Madagascan Pratincole (Vulnerable) breeds on Madagascar and migrates to eastern Africa after breeding. The Jerdon’s Courser (Critically Endangered) occurs in a small area in eastern India. Both species are threatened by habitat loss.

INTERESTING FACTS

Although most families in the Charadriiformes are aquatic, the majority of coursers and pratincoles live in arid environments. Pratincoles mostly feed at dawn and dusk., whereas coursers are primarily nocturnal. When the Black-winged Pratincole migrates between the steppes of central Asia and southern Africa, it can do so in one, non-stop, 10,000 kilometer flight. In Africa, pratincoles sometimes follow herds of antelope to eat the insects flushed out of the grass.

Artist

Chris Vest