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Black-winged Pratincole
Glareola nordmanni
Identify the Black-winged Pratincole by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Black-winged Pratincole is a sleek, long-winged wader that hunts insects in the air like a swallow. It breeds on steppes in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia and winters in southern Africa. Adults have brown upperparts, a white belly and strikingly black underwings. It is hard to separate from the Collared Pratincole without good views.
Did you know?
- Although classed as a wader, it often hunts insects on the wing like a swallow.
- The genus name comes from Latin glarea, gravel, after the typical nesting ground of pratincoles.
About the species
Identification
Brown back and head, white belly, clearly black underwings and flight feathers, a short bill and a forked tail; length about 24–28 cm. Very similar to Collared Pratincole but separated by the black underwing and lack of a white trailing edge to the wing; it is also slightly shorter-tailed. Collared Pratincole's chestnut underwing can look dark in poor light, so reliable marks often need good views.
Family
Glareolidae
Size
Medium (thrush)
Colours
brown, black, white, grey
About the habitat
Open steppe, plains and fields, often near water; nests on bare or sparsely vegetated ground.
Diet
Mainly flying insects such as grasshoppers and beetles, taken in the air, though it also picks prey from the ground.
Behaviour
Often forages in swift, swallow-like flight, especially towards evening near water, and gathers in large flocks on migration. It nests on the ground in colonies, usually laying 2–4 eggs.
Sources
Photo: Попов Евгений, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tyrkyshka.jpg
Text: Wikipedia (English) + GBIF regional observations + Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0; GBIF occurrence data; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-winged_pratincole
