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9

Oriental Pratincole (Glareola maldivarum) Alternate name(s): "Grasshopper-bird", "Swallow-plover" Size: 23-24 cm; wing span 60-65 cm Weight: 80-100 g (outside the breeding season)

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Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Oriental Pratincoles have a predominantly greyish-brown plumage. During the breeding season they have an easily visible rufous throat patch ("bib") with a prominent white and black fringe. During the non-breeding season both throat patch and fringe lose their lustre and become more inconspicuous. Also the rest of the plumage becomes more greyish and thereby duller. The belly and vent are off-white in eclipse. The eye-rings, which are black during the breeding season, turn white. The underwings are brownish, with dark trailing edges and dark tips. The irises are black, the bill is pink with a black tip during the breeding season and dark-grey in eclipse. The legs and feet are dark-grey. Twitcher's tip Compared to Australian Pratincoles, Oriental Pratincoles have shorter legs that do not protrude beyond the tip of the forked tail in-flight. They also have more brownish underwings with dark tips.

Taxonomy, classification See Oriental Pratincole at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Oriental Pratincole is available HERE . Oriental Pratincoles are a migratory species that breeds in the northern hemisphere. The range of Oriental Pratincoles extends from northern Arabia in the West, via India, Sri Lanka, the Andaman islands and the Maldives into south-eastern Asia (most prominently Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia) to eastern Asia, as far as Japan in the East. In the northern winter large numbers of Oriental Pratincoles migrate to the South (Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia). Oriental Pratincoles are non-breeding migrants to Australia from the North. In Australia, they usually populate only the tropical North of the continent, and associated off-shore islands, from about Eighty Mile Beach in WA, through the Kimberley and the northern half of the NT, along the southern end of the Gulf of Carpentaria and into north-eastern QLD (but not the tip of Cape York peninsula). There are only occasional reports of them migrating further into the continent, reaching the western half of WA, the eastern coastal fringe, the southern coast of VIC and SA, and (very rarely) the eastern central inland (Lake Eyre Basin, lower Murray-Darling Basin). While in Australia, Oriental Pratincoles have a preference for open habitats such as sand plains, bare ground around swamps or inland claypans. They have also been found on sandy or rocky beaches.

Sightings Click here for sighting information B. Hensen reports spotting an Oriental Pratincole on a beach at Rapid Creek, NT, in December 2015. J. Greaves reports finding an Oriental Pratincole at Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, in December 2016. M. Eaton found an Oriental Pratincole at Newell Beach, QLD, in December 2018.

Photos

ADULT

Sex unknown

NON-BREEDING

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage looking at the observer (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, December 2016]

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, December 2016]

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage in an unusual habitat, a beach (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Rapid Creek, NT, December 2015]

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Newell Beach, QLD, December 2018]

Near-dorsal view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Newell Beach, QLD, December 2018]

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage spreading its wings for take-off, thereby exposing the characteristic brown underwings (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, December 2016]

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage in flight (photo courtesy of J. Greaves)
[Pickertaramoor, Melville Island, NT, December 2016]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of an Oriental Pratincole in non-breeding plumage taking a cockroach (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Rapid Creek, NT, December 2015]

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.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 13 March 2019, 16:44 +00:00