Glaréole orientale

Identification

These birds have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails. They have short bills, which is an adaptation to aerial feeding. The back and head are brown, and the wings are brown with black flight feathers. The belly is white. The underwings are chestnut. Very good views are needed to distinguish this species from other pratincoles, such as the very similar collared pratincole, which also has a chestnut underwing, and black-winged pratincole which shares the black upperwing flight feathers and lack of a white trailing edge to the wing. These features are not always readily seen in the field, especially as the chestnut underwing appears black unless excellent views are obtained.

Taxonomie

Nom scientifique

Glareola maldivarum

Autorité

Forster, JR, 1795

Ordre

Charadriiformes

Famille

Glareolidae

Genre

Glareola

Répartition et habitat

The Oriental pratincole is native to Asia, breeding from North Pakistan and the Kashmir region, sporadically southwards towards the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Indochina, eastern China, Manchuria and the Philippines. It is migratory and winters throughout the Indomalayan realm and western Australasia.

Aire de reproduction

PAL, OR : patchily in temperate to tropical grassland near water of s to ne Asia: w India and Sri Lanka, se Asia to Malay Pen., e, ne China, Philippines, Taiwan, e Siberia and s, c Japan

Aire hors reproduction

OR, AU : grassy fields of Chagos Arch. and Maldives (wc Indian Ocean), Indian Pen. through Indonesian Arch., Cocos (Keeling), Christmas I. and Ashmore Reef (se Indian Ocean), n WA and n NT (n, nc Australia), Mariana Is. to Palau, Truk, Yap and Marshall Is. (w Micronesia)

Migration

Complete migrants

Conservation

Tendance de la population

declining