About the Cream-coloured Courser
The cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) is a species of wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. Both parts of the scientific name derive from Latin cursor, "runner", from currere, "to run" which describes their usual habit as they hunt their insect prey on the ground in dry open semi-desert regions of the Middle East and northern Africa.
Cream-coloured coursers are found in the Canary Islands, Cape Verde, North Africa and Southwest Asia. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September, but they may also breed in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable. They are partially migratory, with northern and northwestern birds wintering across the southern edge of the Sahara, in Arabia, and in northwestern India. The species also breeds in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan, and has bred occasionally in southern Spain.
They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far north as Finland, Norway and Great Britain; they are more regular on Malta, with flocks of up to 30 recorded there. Cream-coloured... Wikipedia →