Australian Pratincoles have a predominantly light greyish-brown
plumage. The head
(except for the throat) neck, mantle and most of the wing feathers
are light greyish-brown. A lighter, cream-coloured chest band
contrasts with the dark-brown belly, while the vent is also
cream-coloured.
The lores and wing
tips are black. The irises are dark, the bill is pink with a black
tip and the legs and feet are dark-grey.
Juveniles
have a lightly mottled, somewhat darker plumage and an all-black bill.
Twitcher's tip
Compared to Oriental
Pratincoles, Australian Pratincoles have longer legs that
protrude beyond the tip of the square tail in-flight. They also have
darker, greyish underwings with light-grey tips.
Although quite different when seen sitting on the ground, because of
their raptor-like wing shape in-flight Australian Pratincoles can be
easily mistaken for Nankeen
Kestrels.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Australian Pratincole is available
HERE
.
Australian Pratincoles are found only in Indonesia, New Guinea
and Australia.
Australian Pratincoles are migratory birds that breed exclusively
in Australia. They migrate to Australia from the North, from Indonesia,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and also tropical islands. In Australia their range
is very complex - see a field guide for details. They are found
mostly along a narrow coastal strip in northern WA, parts of the NT,
parts of western QLD (but also a narrow strip along the tropical
East coast) and in the semi-arid to arid areas of the eastern half
of SA (including the Lake Eyre Basin and the area around Adelaide,
SA) and the western half of NSW (including the Murray-Darling Basin).
In Australia, Australian Pratincoles have a preference for semi-arid
to arid open plains, i.e. open grassland and gibber plains, but they are also found
in ephemeral wetlands
and often by roadsides.
They can also be found regularly on fallow fields (basically wherever
there is hardly any visible plant growth).
Sightings
Click here for sighting information
We have seen Australian Pratincoles in various locations on trips
to inland NSW, especially in the NSW outback (beyond Bourke).
More than 10 birds were also spotted by us at
Goran Lake, an ephemeral lake 30 km South of
Gunnedah, NSW, in December 2012.
Next, 4 Australian Pratincoles were found by us on the edge of a
shallow puddle on a
fallow field between Burren Junction and Pilliga, NSW, in December
2015.
A. Dowe reports spotting a pair of Australian Pratincoles on a
broadacre farm 5 km South-East of Bellata, NSW, in May 2013. A single
bird was spotted by us returning to the same location in September 2013.
In the past, up to five pairs were observed on the same farm, on
(often fallow) fields.
C. Charles
reports spotting Australian Pratincoles in Astrebla Downs
NP, South-West QLD, in August 2013.
B. Hensen reports spotting Australian Pratincoles at Fogg Dam NR, NT, in August 2013.
C. Hayne reports spotting small numbers of Australian Pratincoles
occasionally at various locations near Moree, in various types of
habitat (from ephemeral
wetlands to empty irrigation
dams and fallow
fields).
J. Greaves reports spotting an Australian Pratincole at Alyangula,
Groote Eylandt, NT, in September 2014.
H. Mouritsen reports spotting Australian Pratincoles in two different
locations near Darwin, NT, in October 2015.
M. Mearns reports spotting Australian Pratincoles near Dajarra,
far-western QLD, in November 2012. More Australian Pratincoles
were found along the Bedouri to Boulia Highway, western QLD,
in September 2019.
M. Eaton reports finding an Australian Pratincole at Banool Road,
close to Atkinson Dam, near Clarendon, Somerset, QLD, in November
2019.
P. Brown found an Australian Pratincole along Jollys Dam Road,
Pine Creek, NT, in January 2020.
Photos
ADULT
BREEDING
Sex unknown
Near-frontal view of an Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Dajarra, QLD, November 2012]
Near-frontal view of an Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Bedouri to Boulia Highway, western QLD, September 2019]
Near-lateral view of an Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Moree, NSW, December 2013]
Near-lateral view of an Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of C. Charles)
[Astrebla Downs NP, QLD, August 2013]
Lateral view of an Australian Pratincole
[Sturt NP,
NSW, September 2012]
Australian Pratincole, here in a more hunched posture
[Sturt NP,
NSW, September 2012]
Lateral view of an Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Jollys Dam Road, Pine Creek, NT, January 2020]
Near-dorsal view of an Australian Pratincole in its typical stance,
with the tail high up, looking back at the observer
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Dorsal view of an Australian Pratincole; this is one of the 4 birds
whose calls were
recorded on 19 December 2015
[Near Burren Junction, NSW, December 2015]
Near-dorsal view of an Australian Pratincole
[Near Bourke, NSW, September 2012]
Frontal view of an Australian Pratincole in flight
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Near-frontal view of an Australian Pratincole in flight
(photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Lateral view of an Australian Pratincole in flight
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Lateral view of an Australian Pratincole in flight
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Near-dorsal view of an Australian Pratincole in flight
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Dorsal view of an Australian Pratincole in flight (photo courtesy
of R. Druce)
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
View onto the back of an Australian Pratincole in flight, showing
the white rump and black tail feathers (photo courtesy of R. Druce)
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
IMMATURE/JUVENILE
Close-up lateral view of an immature Australian Pratincole
- note the all-black bill and the mottled and streaked
appearance (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sewage Treatment Plant, Katherine, NT, July 2020]
Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sewage Treatment Plant, Katherine, NT, July 2020]
Lateral view of a juvenile Australian Pratincole
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Fogg Dam NR,
NT, August 2013]
Australian Pratincoles are often found in habitats without vegetation,
such as e.g. gibber,
fallow fields, or,
as shown here, roadsides
(photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Moree, NSW, December 2013]
This Australian Pratincole is ducking like a duck
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
Food, Diet
Australian Pratincole drinking
[Goran Lake, NSW, December 2012]
More Australian Pratincole sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.