Cursorius

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Cursorius
Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Glareolidae
Subfamily: Cursoriinae
Genus: Cursorius
Latham, 1790
Type species
Cursorius europaeus[1] = Charadrius cursor
Latham, 1790
Species

C. cursor
C. somalensis
C. rufus
C. temminckii
C. coromandelicus

Cursorius is a genus of coursers, a group of birds in the pratincole family Glareolidae, in the order Charadriiformes. The genus name derive from Latin cursor meaning "runner".

There are five species which breed in Africa and South Asia. They have, compared to pratincoles, longer legs, shorter wings and longer pointed bills which curve downwards. They inhabit deserts and similar arid regions. Like the related pratincoles, the coursers are found in warmer parts of the Old World. They hunt insects by sight, pursuing them on foot.

Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground.

Taxonomy

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Although traditionally thought to be waders, particularly closely related to plovers,[2] genetic studies now classify the coursers and pratincoles in the suborder Lari, more closely related to gulls and terns, and closest of all to the crab-plover.[3]

The genus Cursorius was introduced in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham.[4] The type species was subsequently designated as the cream-coloured courser.[5] The genus name is derive from Latin cursor meaning "runner", from currere, "to run".[6]

The genus contains five species:[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Glareolidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  2. ^ Cramp, Stanley (1983). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: Waders to gulls. Oxford London New York: Oxford university press. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-19-857506-8.
  3. ^ Černý, David; Natale, Rossy (2022). "Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 177 107620. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620. Retrieved 2025-11-23.
  4. ^ Latham, John (1790). Index Ornithologicus, Sive Systema Ornithologiae: Complectens Avium Divisionem In Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Ipsarumque Varietates (in Latin). Vol. 2. London: Leigh & Sotheby. p. 751.
  5. ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 299.
  6. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Sandpipers, snipes, Crab-plover, coursers". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 November 2022.