Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Coursers Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family†: Glareolidae Genera Pluvianus Cursorius Rhinoptilus † See also Pratincole The Coursers are a group of birds which together with the pratincoles make up the family Glareolidae . They have long legs, short wings and long pointed bills which curve downwards. Their most unusual feature for birds classed as waders is that they inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. They have cryptic plumage and crouch down when alarmed to avoid detection by predators. Like the pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by running. Their 2-3 eggs are laid on the ground. The species are Egyptian Plover Pluvianus aegyptius Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor Temminck's Courser Cursorius temminckii Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelius Burchell's Courser Cursorius rufus Two-banded Courser Rhinoptilus africanus Heuglin's Courser Rhinoptilus cinctus Violet-tipped Courser or Bronze-winged courser, Rhinoptilus chalcopterus Jerdon's Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.