Cream-colored Courser
Cursorius cursor
Distinctive wader of desert areas, uniform sandy-brown with a blue back of head framed by a white and black stripe meeting at the nape. Bill is slightly down-curved. Very tall and slim with long legs that it uses to run across desert and semi-desert areas with its head held high. Dramatically patterned in flight with black flight feathers and underwings contrasting with its sandy body.
Identification
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.<p>In flight, this species resembles a pratincole with its relaxed wingbeats, pointed wings and dark underwings.
Taxonomy
Genus: Cursorius; Family: Glareolidae; Order: Charadriiformes.
- Scientific name
- Cursorius cursor
- Authority
- (Latham, 1787)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Glareolidae
- Genus
- Cursorius
Range and habitat
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.<p>They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as Finland, Ireland and Great Britain.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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