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 in three genera are accepted:^[4]

Genus Cursorius
- Indian courserCursorius coromandelicus
- Temminck's courserCursorius temminckii
- Burchell's courserCursorius rufus
- Cream-coloured courserCursorius cursor
- Somali courserCursorius somalensis

Genus Rhinoptilus
- Bronze-winged courser or violet-tipped courser Rhinoptilus chalcopterus
- Three-banded courser or Heuglin's courser Rhinoptilus cinctus
- Jerdon's courserRhinoptilus bitorquatus

Genus Smutsornis (monotypic genus)
- Double-banded courser or two-banded courser Smutsornis africanus (syn. Rhinoptilus africanus)

References

↑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.
↑ Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John; Prater, Tony (1986). Aves playeras: Guía de identificación . Croom Help. págs. 25, 70–73 , 245–252 . ISBN 0-7099-2034-2.
↑ Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "El muestreo taxonómico exhaustivo y los fósiles verificados ayudan a esclarecer el árbol filogenético de las aves playeras (Aves, Charadriiformes)" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 177 107620. doi : 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620 . Consultado el 23 de noviembre de 2025 .
↑ "Corredores, agachadizas, chorlitos cangrejeros, corredores – Lista Mundial de Aves del COI" . Lista Mundial de Aves del COI – Versión 14.2 . 2025-02-20 . Consultado el 2025-11-23 .

[Cramp-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.

[Hayman-2] Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John; Prater, Tony (1986). Aves playeras: Guía de identificación . Croom Help. págs. 25, 70–73 , 245–252 . ISBN 0-7099-2034-2.

[Černý-3] Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "El muestreo taxonómico exhaustivo y los fósiles verificados ayudan a esclarecer el árbol filogenético de las aves playeras (Aves, Charadriiformes)" . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 177 107620. doi : 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620 . Consultado el 23 de noviembre de 2025 .

[IOC-4] "Corredores, agachadizas, chorlitos cangrejeros, corredores – Lista Mundial de Aves del COI" . Lista Mundial de Aves del COI – Versión 14.2 . 2025-02-20 . Consultado el 2025-11-23 .

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