Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus Scientific name definitions
- LC Least Concern
- Names (22)
- Monotypic
Text last updated January 25, 2016
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Species names in all available languages
Language | Common name |
---|---|
Catalan | corredor de l'Índia |
Czech | běhulík rezavoprsý |
Dutch | Indische Renvogel |
English | Indian Courser |
English (United States) | Indian Courser |
French | Courvite de Coromandel |
French (France) | Courvite de Coromandel |
German | Koromandelrennvogel |
Japanese | インドスナバシリ |
Malayalam | തവിട്ടുചെമ്പൻ ചരൽക്കോഴി |
Marathi | धाविक |
Norwegian | indialøper |
Polish | rączak indyjski |
Russian | Коромандельский бегунок |
Serbian | Indijska trkalica |
Slovak | behavec tmavý |
Slovenian | Indijski tekalec |
Spanish | Corredor Indio |
Spanish (Spain) | Corredor indio |
Swedish | indisk ökenlöpare |
Turkish | Kızıl Çölkoşarı |
Ukrainian | Бігунець індійський |
Cursorius coromandelicus (Gmelin, 1789)
Definitions
- CURSORIUS
- coromanda / coromandela / coromandelanensis / coromandelensis / coromandeliana / coromandelianus / coromandelica / coromandelicus / coromandeliensis / coromandelus / coromander / coromandes / coromandra / coromandus
The Key to Scientific Names
Legend Overview
Field Identification
23–26 cm; wingspan 58–60 cm (1). Above sandy greyish brown with white uppertail; crown bright rufous bordered below by white supercilia meeting in V on nape and black stripe through eye to bill; breast and upper belly cinnamon-chestnut, bordered below by blackish band on lower belly; undertail white; above, black primaries and outer secondaries contrast with grey-brown coverts; underwing dark greyish brown, primaries black, narrow white trailing edge; bill black, legs white. Differs from other Cursorius by white uppertail and black lores. Juvenile strongly barred and blotched dark brown and buff above ; crown dark brown, flecked buff.
Systematics History
Subspecies
Distribution
Indus Valley, in Pakistan, E to S Nepal and West Bengal, S through most of India to dry parts of NW Sri Lanka (from N of Puttalam to Jaffna Peninsula); no recent records in Bangladesh.
Habitat
Dry stony plains, salty wastes, waste and fallow land with scattered scrub, ploughed fields , overgrazed areas and bare pastures around villages. Avoids areas of heavy rainfall. Recorded to 275 m in Nepal.
Movement
Mainly resident, but locally nomadic. In Lower Sind overlaps with C. cursor. During Sept and Oct, after monsoon, gathers in small flocks of up to ten birds; also c. 40 birds counted in Jul in bare fields near Delhi. No vagrancy outside Indian Subcontinent.
Diet and Foraging
Beetles and their larvae, especially tenebrionids; grasshoppers, mole crickets (Gryllotalpa) and other insects, such as ants; small molluscs. Catches insects by running in fast spurts, stopping and dipping forward to peck at ground. Occasionally observed in sizeable flocks, more usually 5–10 individuals in post-breeding season, and occasionally associated with C. cursor (2).
Sounds and Vocal Behavior
Generally considered to be rather quiet. Gives a hoarse, creaky “gwaat” or “wut” on flushing, becoming more subdued with repetition (2). Incubating birds reported to utter a low grunt (1).
Breeding
Season at least late Feb–Aug, with young observed in Haryana as early as Mar and Feb in Gujurat (3); mainly May–Jun in Sri Lanka (4); in Lower Sind, peak egg-laying in third week of Apr, but nests noted from Mar to Jul there. Nest a shallow unlined scrape on bare ground. Usually two eggs, sometimes three, stony ochre heavily blotched brown (3, 4); incubation mostly performed by female, period not definitely known, but apparently c. 35 days (3). Chick mottled ginger, creamy white and black above; below creamy white with ginger breast; legs greyish. Chicks tended by both parents, but mostly by female; fledging period unrecorded.
Conservation Status
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Apparently still fairly common over most of range, but listed as Critically Endangered in Sri Lanka and declines have been reported in several areas as a result of uncultivated grasslands at the hands of increasing agricultural and spread of settlements (5); able to survive even in regions where grazing livestock, jackals, dogs and crows are plentiful, so unlikely to suffer severe decrease in numbers in short or medium term. Numbers much reduced in Sri Lanka, where breeding only recently proved again after many years without records (4).