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
- 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
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Kentish Plover
Anarhynchus alexandrinus
Small, pale plover with broken black collar, sandy upperparts, grayish legs, and rather fine black bill. Breeding plumage has black mask and black tabs at sides of breast (not a complete band). Nonbreeding plumages have black replaced by brown. Mainly coastal, on sandy beaches, dry mudflats, and at salt ponds, usually near water; also locally inland. Migrants will join with flocks of other shorebirds.
Sri Lanka Hanging-Parrot
Loriculus beryllinus
Tiny, short-tailed, bright green parrot. Both sexes show red bill and red rump, while male also possesses a scarlet crown. Typically found in ones or twos in the canopy of forests in the Wet Zone, but also wooded areas outside of that zone. Confined to Sri Lanka, where the extremely small size and short tail make it easily identified from all other parrots on the island. Often given flight call is a metallic “zit-zit-zit”. Can also be given singly, as a drawn out “zeeet”.
Yellow-billed Amazon
Amazona collaria
A chunky green inhabitant of wet forests; typically found in pairs or small flocks in or near the canopy. Note this species’ yellow bill, rosy throat, and white eyering. The somewhat similar Black-billed Parrot is distinguished from Yellow-billed Parrot by its black bill, black eyering, and green throat. When the two species are together, the larger size of the Yellow-billed is evident. The characteristics noted above also separate this species from other parrots that might have escaped from captivity. Calls include a a “maa-weep” and a “mwah” that is not as harsh as the corresponding call of the Black-billed Parrot.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.