| Glareolidae | |
|---|---|
 Collared Pratincole (Glareola pratincola) | |
| Scientific Classification | |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Glareolidae |
Glareolidae is a family of waders in the Charadri suborder. It contains two distinct groups, the pratincoles and the coursers. The atypical Egyptian plover (Pluvianus aegyptius), traditionally placed in this family, is now known to be only distantly related.
Description[]
The feature that defines the family from the rest of the order is the bill, which is arched and has the nostrils at the base. The pratincoles have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails. They have a buoyant flight that allows them the unusual (for the order) hunting technique of taking their insect prey on the wing like swallows. The wings also allow for long migrations in some species. The coursers have long legs, which are used to run (giving the group its name. The wings are shorter and have a more sustained flight than that of the pratincoles.I am a potato and this bi
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Distribution and Habitat[]
The pratincoles and coursers have an Old World distribution, occurring in southern Europe, Asia, Africa (including Madagascar), and Australia. The family is thought to have evolved in Africa, which is where the family achieves its greatest diversity, although fossils of an extinct pratincole have been found in Miocene deposits in France.
The coursers are typically found in open and arid environments such as deserts and scrub. The three-banded courser and bronze-winged courser are exceptions, being found in woodland and usually away from open land. The subfamily is usually also associated with lowland areas, although the Burchell's courser is found in southern Africa's Afro-alpine areas. The pratincoles are associated with wetlands, rivers, estuaries and other inland waterways. As with the coursers there are exceptions, particularly the black-winged pratincole which breeds and feeds on open steppes.
Behavior[]
The coursers are crepuscular and nocturnal in their habits, and are generally inconspicuous, particularly the woodland species. They are not as social as the highly gregarious and noisy pratincoles, some species of which may also active at dawn and dusk.
Diet and Feeding[]
Insects form the majority of the diet of the Glareolidae. The pratincoles forage mainly on the wing, but are able to take prey on the ground as well. They are opportunistic, and have been recorded attending herds of antelope to snatch insects flushed up by their movement, or even insects attracted to street lights. Swarming insects, such as locusts or termites, are particularly targeted. Coursers are exclusively terrestrial, and feed in a plover-like fashion, running, then stopping to scan for prey before moving on. Some species may dig for insects win soft soil with their bills. In addition to insects coursers may also take molluscs and some seeds.
Species[]
Pratincoles Genus: Stiltia Australian Pratincole (Vieillot, 1816) (Stiltia isabella) Genus: Glareola Grey Pratincole (Fraser, 1843) (Glareola cinerea) Small Pratincole (Temminck, 1820) (Glareola lactea) Oriental Pratincole (Forster, 1795) (Glareola maldivarum) Black-winged Pratincole (Fischer von Waldheim, 1842) (Glareola nordmanni) Rock Pratincole (Gray, 1849) (Glareola nuchalis) Madagascan Pratincole (Verreaux, 1833) (Glareola ocularis) Collared Pratincole (Linnaeus, 1766) (Glareola pratincola) Coursers Genus: Cursorius Indian Courser (Gmelin, 1789) (Cursorius coromandelicus) Cream-coloured Courser (Latham, 1787) (Cursorius cursor) Burchell's Courser (Gould, 1837) (Cursorius rufus) Somali Courser (Shelley, 1885) (Cursorius somalensis) Temminck's Courser (Swainson, 1822) (Cursorius temminckii) Genus: Rhinoptilus Jerdon's Courser (Blyth, 1848) (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) Bronze-winged Courser (Temminck, 1824) (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus) Three-banded Courser (Heuglin, 1863) (Rhinoptilus cinctus) Genus: Smutsornis Double-banded Courser (Temminck, 1807) (Smutsornis africanus)