- Glareola nordmanni
Identification
24–28 cm
Adult:
- Brown head and back
- Black flight feathers and under wing
- Buff chin and throat (bordered in summer by a thin black line)
- White belly and rump
- Short black bill with red base (reduced in winter)
- Black legs
- Long forked tail
Younger birds: the juvenile plumage is checkered in black and brownish, the throat is not distinct, and the bill is all black. The first moult should take place en early fall and be a nearly complete moult leading to first winter plumage, still with indistinct throat, black bill, but now with almost adult colors except for pale fringes on the feathers in fresh plumage. The change to first summer plumage involves a partial moult that however can start as early as September in the same year that the bird is born, leading to an extreme variation of plumages that can be seen in say October: varying from almost identical with an adult to birds not having moulted more than half of their checkered juvenile plumage.
Similar Species
Darker than Collared Pratincole and lacks the light trailing edge to the inner wings.
Distribution
Breeds from Romania to southwestern Russia and northern Kazakhstan; winters to South Africa.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open country near water. Breeds on marshes and wet meadows.
Behaviour
Juvenile
Photo by lior kislev
Beyt Shean Valley, Israel, October 2007
Photo by lior kislev
Eylat.k20. Israel, May 2007
Breeding
2-4 eggs are laid on the ground.
Diet
The diet includes insects, either caught aerially or found on the ground.
Vocalisation
Call: similar to, but lower-pitched than Collared Pratincole; kettek, pwik-kik-kik
<flashmp3>Glareola nordmanni (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Birdforum thread discussing age of a first winter bird
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-winged Pratincole. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-winged_Pratincole
