Courser (e.g. Cursorius)

BirdDrylandOld World

Overview

Coursers (family Glareolidae, genus Cursorius and relatives) are slim, upright, long-legged birds of dry, open country in Africa, Asia, and parts of southern Europe. Their name says it all: rather than wading like their shorebird relatives, coursers are built to run, sprinting swiftly across bare ground on long legs and pausing in an alert, upright stance before dashing on again. Sandy and buff in colour, they are beautifully camouflaged against the dry plains they inhabit.

Coursers belong to the same family as the pratincoles — graceful, swallow-like aerial insect-catchers — making Glareolidae an unusual family that pairs fleet-footed ground runners with elegant aerial hawkers.

Note: “courser” covers several species; details here describe the ground-running coursers broadly. Treat general statements as approximate and verify against authoritative sources.

Habitat & Range

Coursers live in dry, open habitats across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and into parts of southern Europe — deserts, semi-deserts, dry grasslands, stony plains, and sparse scrub. They favour bare or thinly vegetated ground with good visibility, where their running speed and camouflage are most effective. Some are resident, others move with the seasons or rains.

Diet

Coursers are insectivores, feeding mainly on insects and other small invertebrates — beetles, ants, termites, grasshoppers, and the like — which they catch by running across open ground in short bursts, stopping to snatch prey from the surface in a plover-like manner. Their quick run-and-grab foraging suits the open, dry landscapes they hunt in.

Behavior

Coursers are fast, agile runners, covering open ground in rapid dashes interspersed with upright pauses, and they tend to rely on running and crouching rather than flight to avoid danger, freezing and blending into the background with their sandy plumage. They are usually seen alone, in pairs, or in small parties. Like many open-ground birds, they nest in a simple scrape on bare earth, laying well-camouflaged eggs, and parents may use distraction displays to lead predators away from the nest. Some coursers are active into the cooler hours and even at night.

Human Interaction & Conservation

Coursers are harmless, lightly built birds appreciated by birdwatchers for their elegant running and camouflage. As ground-nesters of open habitats, they can be affected by habitat loss and degradation, disturbance, and predators, and a few species — such as the rare Jerdon's courser of India — are of serious conservation concern, while many others remain reasonably common. Consult the IUCN Red List for species-specific status.

More photos of the courser