ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
THE PRATINCOLES AND COURSERS
The Common or Collared Pratincole
(G. pratincola) of the warmer parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa is about nine inches long, brown with an olive tinge above, the wings blackish with the secondaries white-tipped, and a blackish tail which is white at the base, while the breast and flanks are grayish brown, and the remainder of the under parts white.
There is a black line under the eye and around the throat where it forms a shield, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries are chestnut-red. From eastern Siberia and as far south as Australia its place is filled by the Indian Pratincole, or Swallow-Plover (G. orientalis), which differs slightly in color and has a less deeply forked tail, while in southeastern Europe in summer and Africa in winter occurs Nordmann's Pratincole (G. melanoptera), which is well marked by having the under wing-coverts and axillaries jet-black.
In Africa it is attendant upon the swarms of locusts and is known to the colonists as the Locust-bird.
previous bird species next bird species
Footer
Footer