Kingdom Animalia Family Glareolidae Scientific name Cursorius cursor Higher classification Cursorius | Order Charadriiformes Genus Cursorius Phylum Chordata Rank Species | |
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Similar Desert lark, Caspian plover, Lesser short‑toed lark, Bar‑tailed lark, Brown‑necked raven | ||
Cream coloured courser
The cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. Both parts of the scientific name derive from Latin cursor, "runner", from currere, "to run".
Contents
Unlike most waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey by running on the ground.
Range
These coursers are found in Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering in India, Arabia and across the southern edge of the Sahara. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan.
They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.
Description
These birds have long legs and long wings. They have slightly downcurved bills. The body plumage is sandy in colour, fading to whitish on the lower belly. The upperwing primary feathers and the underwings are black. The crown and nape are grey, and there is a black eyestripe and white supercilium.
In flight this species resembles a pratincole with its relaxed wingbeats, pointed wings and dark underwings.
Subspecies
There are three subspecies of the cream-coloured courser:
Taxonomic note
Hayman's Shorebirds treats the east African form littoralis as a race of the Somali courser rather than of cream-colored. Some authorities in turn consider the Somali, Burchell's and cream-coloured coursers to be conspecific.