Courser

Short description: Subfamily of birds

Courser

Cream-colored courser
(Cursorius cursor)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Charadriiformes
Family:  | Glareolidae
Subfamily:  | Cursoriinae
Genera

Cursorius
Rhinoptilus

The coursers are a subfamily (Cursoriinae) of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae. They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions.

They 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.

## Species in taxonomic order

* Cream-colored courser Cursorius cursor
* Somali courser Cursorius somalensis
* Temminck's courser Cursorius temminckii
* Indian courser Cursorius coromandelicus
* Burchell's courser Cursorius rufus
* Double-banded courser or two-banded courser, Rhinoptilus africanus
* Three-banded courser or Heuglin's courser, Rhinoptilus cinctus
* Bronze-winged courser or violet-tipped courser, Rhinoptilus chalcopterus
* Jerdon's courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

## References

* Hayman, Marchant and Prater, Shorebirds ISBN 0-395-37903-2

Wikidata ☰ Q3007752 entry

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