Burchell's courser
Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus) is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae.[2] The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell.[3]
| Burchell's courser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| C. rufus pair in Namibia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Glareolidae |
| Genus: | Cursorius |
| Species: | C. rufus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cursorius rufus Gould, 1837 | |
Burchell's courser small bird that lives in the western parts of southern Africa (Southwest Angola, Namibia, Botswana (Kalahari Basin), and western South Africa).[4] Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey[5] (usually Harvester Termites)[4] by running on the ground. It feeds off of insects and seeds and lives in open, short grasslands and burnt veld.[5] It grows to 20 to 22 centimeters in height and about 75 grams in weight.[4]
References
- BirdLife International (2012). "Cursorius rufus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Hancock, Peter; Weiersbye, Ingrid (24 November 2015). "Birds of Botswana". Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 158. ISBN 9781400874170. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. p. 72. ISBN 9780713666472.
- Maclean, G.L.; Kirwan, G.M. (2016). "Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive: Burchell's Courser (Cursorius rufus)". Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
- Ekstrom, J.; Butchart, S.; Malpas, L. (2016). "Species factsheet: Cursorius rufus". BirdLife International. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
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