Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus Scientific name definitions

23–26 cm; wingspan 58–60 cm (1 Roberts, T. J. (1991). The Birds of Pakistan. Volume 1. Non-Passeriformes. Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan. Close ). 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Generally considered to be rather quiet. Gives a hoarse, creaky “gwaat” or “wut” on flushing, becoming more subdued with repetition (2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ). Incubating birds reported to utter a low grunt (1 Roberts, T. J. (1991). The Birds of Pakistan. Volume 1. Non-Passeriformes. Oxford University Press, Karachi, Pakistan. Close ).

Season at least late Feb–Aug, with young observed in Haryana as early as Mar and Feb in Gujurat (3 Arya, A. (2011). Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus breeding at Sultanpur, Haryana, India. BirdingASIA. 16: 81–85. Close ); mainly May–Jun in Sri Lanka (4 Saramaweera, P. (2011). The Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Bird Club Notes Nov: 211–220. Close ); 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 Arya, A. (2011). Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus breeding at Sultanpur, Haryana, India. BirdingASIA. 16: 81–85. Close , 4 Saramaweera, P. (2011). The Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Bird Club Notes Nov: 211–220. Close ); incubation mostly performed by female, period not definitely known, but apparently c. 35 days (3 Arya, A. (2011). Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus breeding at Sultanpur, Haryana, India. BirdingASIA. 16: 81–85. Close ). 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.

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 Munjpara, S.B. and Gadhvi, I.R. (2009). Threats to foraging habitat of Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in Abdasa Taluka, Kachchh, Gujarat, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 106(3): 339–340. Close ); 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 Saramaweera, P. (2011). The Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in Sri Lanka. Ceylon Bird Club Notes Nov: 211–220. Close ).