Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni Scientific name definitions

23–26 cm; 84–105 g; wingspan 60–68 cm. Above brown with olive tinge, and white rump; flight feathers and deeply forked tail black; throat ochre-yellow with narrow black border ; breast brown, shading to white belly; bill black with red at base, legs blackish. Black border to throat indistinct in non-breeding plumage. Separated from G. pratincola by black underwing-coverts, lack of white trailing edge to wing, darker, more uniform upperwing, and less red on bill; from G. maldivarum by black underwing-coverts, and longer tail. Juvenile mottled blackish above and on breast; throat dull whitish without black collar; may show few chestnut tips to underwing-coverts.

Closely related to G. maldivarum and G. pratincola (although some range overlap with latter). At one time erroneously regarded as a colour morph of G. pratincola, with which has been known to hybridize (1 Campbell, O. (2009). An apparent hybrid Collared Pratincole × Black-winged Pratincole and the Oriental Pratincole problem. Birding World. 22(6): 257–259. Close ); also, on occasion, considered a race of G. pratincola. Monotypic.

SE Europe through Ukraine to SW Russia and N Kazakhstan, sporadically in Belarus, Hungary and Azerbaijan. Winters in S Africa and, more irregularly, in W Africa.

In Eurasian breeding areas inhabits saline and alkaline steppes , grassland, ploughed and arable land, in river valleys and along shorelines of lakes or seas. Prefers saline soil with sparse vegetation; always with water or wet meadows nearby; tolerates taller and denser vegetation than G. pratincola. The probability of occurrence of breeding colonies in Kazakhstan is highest near human settlements, within 3 km of open water and where sward heights are low or intermediate, indicating a reliance on heavy grazing and water (2 Kamp, J., Koshkin, M.A. and Sheldon, R.D. (2009). Population size, breeding performance and habitat use of the Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni. Bird Conservation International. 19(2): 149–163. Close ). Non-breeders frequent open high-altitude grassland (to 1370 m in Zambia and 1590 m in Ethiopia) (3 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close , 4 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) or low-lying mudflats.

Long-distance migrant from Eurasia to W & S Africa, chiefly South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Sept–Apr; nomadic in winter range following swarming insect prey, and Dec/Jan records are available from as far N as Sudan/Ethiopia border region (4 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). On passage in Sudan, Ethiopia (4 Ash, J. S., and J. Atkins (2009). Birds of Ethiopia and Eritrea: An Atlas of Distribution. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), W Kenya, W Uganda (Oct and Mar–Apr) (5 Carswell, M., D. Pomeroy, J. Reynolds, and H. Tushabe (2005). The Bird Atlas of Uganda. British Ornithologists’ Club and British Ornithologists' Union, Oxford, UK. Close ), Congo (6 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (1998). Further additions to and deletions from the avifauna of Congo-Brazzaville. Malimbus 20(1):15–32. Close ), DR Congo, Angola, W Zambia (extreme dates 6 Oct and 19 Apr, mainly late Oct to late Nov and early Mar to mid Apr) (3 Dowsett, R. J., D. R. Aspinwall, and F. Dowsett-Lemaire (2008). The Birds of Zambia. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), but seldom in Malawi (< 5 records) (7 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2006). The Birds of Malawi: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press & Aves, Liège, Belgium. Close ), Somalia (just two old records) (8 Ash, J. S., and J. E. Miskell (1998). Birds of Somalia. Pica Press, Robertsbridge, UK. Close ) and Zimbabwe; 1000s of birds pass S through DR Congo in Oct, and N again in Mar. In W Africa, flocks of up to 200 birds in Nigeria, Sept and Dec–Apr, but reports of large numbers on passage through Mauritania or wintering in Mali appear erroneous (9 Dowsett-Lemaire, F., and R. J. Dowsett (2014). The Birds of Ghana: An Atlas and Handbook. Tauraco Press, Liège, Belgium. Close ). Arrival in breeding areas usually Apr–May, departure in Aug–Sept, although post-breeding flocks form as early as late Jun (10 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ). Much migration at high altitude, so passage frequently not observed from ground. Rare passage migrant through Arabian Peninsula, which region species probably overflies, with, for example, just single records in Bahrain (11 Hirschfeld, E. (1992). Birds new to Bahrain 1989–92. Sandgrouse 14(2):112–116. Close ) and Yemen (12 Heard, C.D.R. (1994). First record of Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni in Yemen. Sandgrouse. 16(1): 57–58. Close ), and 15 records in Oman (13 Eriksen, J., and R. Victor (2013). Oman Bird List: the Official List of the Birds of the Sultanate of Oman. Seventh edition. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman. Close ); uncommon passage migrant through Israel along coastal plain, southward in Sept and Oct, and very rare in Jordan (14 Andrews, I.J., Khoury, F. and Shirihai, H. (1999). Jordan Bird Report 1995–97. Sandgrouse 21(1):10–35. Close ); also very rare on passage through Iran (15 Scott, D.A. (2008). Rare birds in Iran in the late 19647s and 19747s. Podoces. 3(1–2): 1–30. Close , 16 Khaleghizadeh, A., D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, S. B. Musavi, M. Ghasemi, M. E. Sehhatisabet, A. Ashoori, A. Khani, P. Bakhtiari, H. Amini, C. Roselaar, R. Ayé, M. Ullman, B. Nezami, and F. Eskandari (2011). Rare birds in Iran in 1980−2010. Podoces 6(1):1–48. Close ). Vagrant N & W to many European countries (as far as Britain , Iceland, Norway and Morocco) (10 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), in China (Jul 1991) (17 Liu, Y., Wei, Q., Dong, L. and Lei, J.-Y. (2013). [On an update of recent new bird records in China]. Chinese J. Zool.. 48(5): 750–758. (In Chinese with English summary.). Close ) and has reached several islands of the Seychelles (11 records, Oct–Dec and May–Jun) (18 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Locusts, grasshoppers , crickets and beetles, also flying ants, termites, wasps, bees, dragonflies, flies and other insects. Forages mainly on the wing, often in flocks of 100s or even 1000s of birds, especially when locusts are swarming; also feeds on ground by running swiftly after prey; usually hunts in early morning and late evening, often after dusk.

Surprisingly poorly known. In flight (including on migration), gives a squeaky “keye-kiche” or “ti-kik”, considered to be audibly sharper than equivalent call of G. pratincola; also a short, monosyllabic “krirk” in alarm.

Lays May–Jul in Black Sea region. Nests in loose colonies of < 10 to 100s of pairs on open ground, usually near water, often with other Charadrii; occasionally several 1000s in colony; sites may move from year to year, even when still apparently suitable. Nest a simple scrape (c. 10 cm wide) (10 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), sparsely lined with dry plant pieces. Clutch 3–5 eggs, olive to olive-green with heavy black markings (10 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ); incubation by both sexes, period unrecorded. Chick similar to that of G. pratincola, but somewhat darker. Young independent at 5–6 weeks. Breeding success has decreased with predation by Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) attracted by plantation of shelter-belts in steppe; in one study, grazing pressure resulted in destruction of 50% of chicks and 30% of nestlings; heavy rain and drought may also affect breeding success. In another study, mean breeding success 1·3 fledged chicks per breeding pair in C Kazakhstan, and c. 0·6 fledged chicks per breeding pair in NE Kazakhstan (2 Kamp, J., Koshkin, M.A. and Sheldon, R.D. (2009). Population size, breeding performance and habitat use of the Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni. Bird Conservation International. 19(2): 149–163. Close ).

Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near Threatened. Has declined markedly (see below) and now requires close monitoring. Total world population estimated at just 10,000–25,000 birds, and declining. Surveys in Kazakhstan, however, suggest world population of 76,000–95,000 pairs, and species now appears to be increasing in C & NE Kazakhstan and SE Russia, mainly due to greater availability of suitable habitat since collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 (2 Kamp, J., Koshkin, M.A. and Sheldon, R.D. (2009). Population size, breeding performance and habitat use of the Black-winged Pratincole Glareola nordmanni. Bird Conservation International. 19(2): 149–163. Close ). Although non-breeding flocks can number 100s of birds in S Africa, occurrence of large flocks in recent years sporadic: c. 10,000, with similar numbers of G. pratincola, at L Ngami, NW Botswana, in Nov 1989, along just 5 km of lake shoreline; in excess of 250,000 birds (including unknown numbers of G. pratincola) in N Orange Free State in Dec 1991 (19 du Plessis, G.J. (1995). Large aggregation of Black-winged Pratincoles Glareola nordmanni in the northern Orange Free State. Ostrich. 66(1): 40–41. Close ); and 76,500 birds at Vaal Dam, South Africa, in 2006 http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22694136 . On migration, flocks of 5000–10,000 noted in W Zambia in Oct–Nov 1966, 10,000 in Mar 1967 and > 100,000 in Nov 1977; up to 5000 birds with G. pratincola in 1970s in Dec and Jan on R Baro, Sudan; 400 Cyprus, Sept 1961; c. 1000 in E Turkey, Sept 1989 (20 Kirwan, G. M., K. A. Boyla, P. Castell, B. Demirci, M. Özen, H. Welch, and T. Marlow (2008). The Birds of Turkey: The Distribution, Taxonomy and Breeding of Turkish Birds. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). In European breeding range population 6500–11,000 pairs, almost all now in European Russia, though still 40–100 pairs in Ukraine in 1985. In early 20th century flocks still numbered 100,000s in Russian steppes. Sharp decline in numbers from 19th century in Romania and Ukraine. Has bred in Germany (1966) (21 Gedeon, K., C. Grüneberg, A. Mitschke, C. Sudfeldt, W. Eikhorst, S. Fischer, M. Flade, S. Frick, I. Geiersberger, B. Koop, M. Kramer, T. Krüger, N. Roth, T. Ryslavy, S. Stübing, S. R. Sudmann, S. Steffens, F. Vökler, and K. Witt (2014). Atlas Deutscher Brutvogelarten [Atlas of German Breeding Birds]. Stiftung Vogelmonitoring Deutschland und Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten, Münster, Germany. Close ) and Belarus (1971) (10 Snow, D. W., and C. M. Perrins, Editors (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Concise Edition. Volume 1. Non-passerines. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ), occasionally in Hungary, and once in Azerbaijan (1962), with several probable records in Turkey between late 1960s and late 1980s (20 Kirwan, G. M., K. A. Boyla, P. Castell, B. Demirci, M. Özen, H. Welch, and T. Marlow (2008). The Birds of Turkey: The Distribution, Taxonomy and Breeding of Turkish Birds. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Partial irrigation of dry steppes in Russia N of Caucasus may have allowed increased breeding numbers during second half of 20th century, reaching 5000–7000 pairs in mid 1980s, though by 1993 population had stabilized or started to decline. Population E of R Volga appears to be declining (22 Oparin, M.L. (2008). Recent fauna of ground-nesting birds in Transvolga steppes and its dynamics in the 20th century. Biol. Bulletin 35(4): 422–427. Close ). Cause of overall decline appears to be cultivation of steppes in breeding areas; species may also be adversely affected by use of pesticides in Africa. Threatened not only by loss of steppe grassland, but also by agricultural operations such as harrowing and intensification of grazing, and predation by increasing numbers of corvids.