Courser

The coursers are a subfamily Cursoriinae of birds which, together with the pratincoles, make up the family Glareolidae in the order Charadriiformes. They have, compared to pratincoles, longer legs, shorter wings and longer pointed bills which curve downwards. They inhabit deserts and similar arid regions, and have cryptic plumage and crouch down when alarmed to avoid detection by predators.

Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by running.

Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground.

## Taxonomy

Although traditionally thought to be waders, particularly closely related to plovers,[1][2] genetic studies now classify the coursers and pratincoles in the suborder Lari, more closely related to gulls and terns, and closest of all to the crab-plover.[3]

### Species

Nine species are accepted:[4]

* Double-banded courser or two-banded courser Rhinoptilus africanus (syn. Smutsornis africanus[citation needed])
* Bronze-winged courser or violet-tipped courser Rhinoptilus chalcopterus
* Three-banded courser or Heuglin's courser Rhinoptilus cinctus
* Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus
* Indian courser Cursorius coromandelicus
* Temminck's courser Cursorius temminckii
* Burchell's courser Cursorius rufus
* Cream-coloured courser Cursorius cursor
* Somali courser Cursorius somalensis

## References

1. ↑ Cramp, Stanley (1983). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: Waders to gulls. Oxford London New York: Oxford university press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-19-857506-8.
2. ↑ Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John; Prater, Tony (1986). Shorebirds: An Identification Guide. Croom Help. pp. 25, 70–73, 245–252. ISBN 0-7099-2034-2.
3. ↑ Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 177. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790322002330. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
4. ↑ "Sandpipers, snipes, Crab-plover, coursers – IOC World Bird List". 2025-02-20. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sandpipers/.

Wikidata ☰ Q3007752 entry

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