Birds of the World
COAST BIRDS
Contents
Index
WORLD BIRDS
Contents
Index
ANECDOTES
TRAITS
Ratites
Tinamous
Cracids/Galli
Waterfowl
Screamers
Ducks
Penguins
Loons
Grebes
Procellarids
Albatrosses
Petrels
Storm-Petrels
Totipalmate Swm
Tropicbirds
Gannets/Boobies
Pelicans
Cormorants
Anhingas
Frigatebirds
Waders
Herons
Ibises
Storks
NW Vultures
Flamingos
Raptors
Gruiformes
Buttonquail
Bustards
Cranes
Rails
Shorebirds
Sandgrouse
Plovers
Oystercatchers
Stilts
Sandpipers
Gulls/Terns
Auks
Pigeons
Parrots
Turacos
Cuckoos
Owls
Frogmouths
Nightjars
Swifts/Humbd
Colies
Coraciae
Hornbills
Hoopoes
Trogons
Rollers
Kingfishers
Bee-eaters
Jacamars/Puffbd
Pici
Honeyguides
Woodpeckers
Barbets/Toucans
PASSERINES
NZ WRENS
OW SUBOSC
Broadbills
Pittas
NW SUBOSC
NW Flycatchers
Becards
Cotingas
Manakins
Antbirds
Ovenbirds
Woodcreepers
Antthrushes
Tapaculos
OSCINES
Lyre-/Scrub-birds
Bowerbirds
Aust. Wrens
Honeyeaters
Scrubwrens
Aust. Robins
Kinglets
Shrikes
Vireos
Whistlers
Corvids
Birds-of-Paradse
OW Orioles
Cuckoo-shrikes
Fantails
Drongos
Monarchs
Bush-shrikes
Wattle-eyes
Vangas
Waxwings
Dippers
Thrushes
OW Flycatchers
Starlings
Mimids
Nuthatches
N Creepers
Wrens
Gnatcatchers
Tits/Parids
Larks
Swallows
Leaf-Warblers
Bulbuls
Cisticolas
White-eyes
Babblers
OW Warblers
Flowerpeckers
Sunbirds
OW Sparrows
Accentors
Pipits
Estridids
Weavers
Whydahs
9-prim. Oscines
Fringillines
Carduelines
Hawaiian Honycrp
NW Sparrows
NW Warblers
Tanagers
Cardinals
NW Blackbirds
Charadriiformes / Lari
Pterocli - Sandgrouse
Charadrii - Shorebirds
Families: Seedsnipe, Plains-wanderer, Thick-knees, Plovers and Lapwings, Oystercatchers,
Ibisbill, Stilts and Avocets, Painted Snipe, Jacanas, Magellanic Plover, Sheathbills,
Sandpipers, Phalaropes
Lari - Gulls, Terns, Skimmers
Families: Crab Plovers, Pratiincoles and Coursers, Jaegers and Skuas, Gulls, Terns, Skimmers
Alcae - Auks
Families: Auks
American Black Oystercatcher, Silver Gull, Western Gull, Heermann's Gull, Lava Gull, Swallow-tailed Gull, Kelp Gull, Dolphin Gull, South American Tern
Masked, Southern, Red-wattled, and Northern Lapwings, White-tailed Plover,
Eurasian, Blackish, and American Black Oystercatchers, Pied Stilt,
Northern and Wattled Jacanas, Snowy Sheathbill, Willet, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper,
Red Phalarope, Alaskan shorebirds, Laughing Gull, Forster's Tern, Black Skimmer,
South Polar Skua, Bonaparte's Gull, Fairy Tern, Black Skimmer,
Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Klittliz's Murrelet, Black Guillemot, and Tufted Puffin
Males are usually larger with bigger bills than females. They are graceful fliers. Most breed colonially, often with other gulls and terns.
The Lari also include the Auks (Alcidae) but they are distinctive enough that we will place them in the next conceptual cluster.
This is an Old World species found on coasts and islands of the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf. Crab Plovers resenble plovers but are fairly-large with a compressed, ungrooved bill that is longer than the head. The upward directed lower mandible is used to open crab shells. Their large eye gives them the ability to feed in poor light and at night. Their nares are impervious with basal, oblong nostrils that are schizorhinal. The legs are long. A hallux is present and the toes are long and partially webbed. The middle claw is dilated on the inner side and notched. Their wings are held stiffly. In flight, the feet extend beyond the tail. They are black and white (pied). The tail is gray. The legs are slate colored and the bill is black.
Often social - flying up to 12 miles to communal roosts. They feed on mudflats or sandy beaches, usually in flocks of 20 or so. They grab their prey and swallow it whole or hammer it with the bill to remove claws and legs. Their diet is mostly crabs but they also eat mollusks, shrimp and mudskippers. They are coastal, usually found on mudflats, sandy beaches and lagoons. They are noisy and vocal with continuous communication among members of the flock.
The breed in large colonies. They nest in burrows, digging a downward sloping tunnel up to 2 m long in sand. They lay 1 (2) eggs. Parents may leave the egg unattended for up to 58 hours, relying on the heat of the sun to warm the burrow. Their young are unique among waders - they are nicidolous (and unable to walk at hatching) - they remain in the nest for several days after hatching where both parents feed the chick, continuing after fledging for a relatively long period.
There are two subfamilies:
Subfamily Cursoriinae - coursers (including the Egyptian Plover, Pluvianus aegyptius)
Subfamily Glareolinae - pratincoles
Sibley and Monroe (1990) group this family with the Crab Plover but the two probably deserve family status.
They are small to medium waders with a short arched bill and long pointed wings. Coursers are plover-like, standing upright, and are more adapted for running - they have long legs and are more terrestrial than pratincoles. Pratincoles usually have a more horizontal posture and are more aerial with longer wings, shorter legs and a forked tail. They resemble terns or large swallows. Sexes are alike. Coursers are cryptically colored in general. Pratincoles are pale with black flight feathers.
Several have patterned lores. Their nares are impervious with oblong nostrils. The culmen is curved. They have 15 cervical vertebrae. The tarsus is transversely scutellate in front and behind. The middle toe is usually pectinate (comb-like). Pelvic muscles are ABXY+.
Coursers are solitary or form in small groups. They forage in open, often arid, country and are largely terrestrial - much like plovers. They feed on large insects which they pursue on foot. They also run to escape predation. They tend to be crepuscular and nocturnal. Pratincoles usually feed in flight like swallows. Their flight is graceful and they are most active at dusk and dawn. They often feed in large numbers on wetlands and along the edges of lakes and rivers in open country, often with terns. Pratincoles may follow herds of mammals to feed on flushed insects - they also feed on insects attracted to lights. Both groups are largely insectivorous but some coursers may take mollusks and seeds.
Pratincoles have high-patches notes and contact calls, often given in flight. Coursers are usually silent. Those breeding in temperate regions are long-distance migrants.
All are monogamous. Coursers are solitary breeders, pratincoles nest colonially. Nests are minimal, usually scrapes on the ground (often in the shade). Coursers lay up to 2 eggs, pratincoles lay 4-5.. Both parents incubate (~20 days). Young fledge after 25-30 days and accompany their parents for a longer period.
