Rock Pratincole - BirdForum Opus

Glareola nuchalis

Photo by mjbmjbmjb
Cuango river, northern Angola, August 2004

Identification

18–19 cm (7-7½ in)

• Brownish-grey upperparts
• White line from behind eye forming a collar at the nape
• White rump and tail base

Distribution

Photo by Kwame Brown
Twifo praso, Ghana, March 2017

Africa
Western Africa: found in Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola and Zaire
Eastern Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po)

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies¹:

• G. n. liberiae - Sierra Leone to w Cameroon
• G. n. nuchalis - Chad to Ethiopia and s to Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique

Habitat

Tropical, rocky riverine areas, sometimes resting on the sandbars.

Behaviour

Often seen in large flocks.

Diet

Their insectivorous diet consists of flies, ants, beetles, mainly caught on the wing at dawn.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved April 2017)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Rock Pratincole. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rock_Pratincole

External Links

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