Pratincoles · Shorebirds
Black-winged Pratincole
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Glareola nordmanni
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How to recognize it
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24–26 cm long
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Long pointed wings and a forked tail; flight resembles a large swallow
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Olive-brown back, cream throat and wing coverts, black band across the brown chest
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Black underwings and white belly visible in flight
About the species
The head and back are brown, set against a white belly, and the undersides of the long, pointed wings are black. In flight, its forked tail and long wings give it a swallow-like outline. Cream feathers cover the throat and chin; a black band crosses the brown breast, with a white patch above the tail.
It catches flying insects on the wing, especially in the morning and evening, but can also feed on the ground. During breeding, it nests in shallow hollows in the ground, sometimes in colonies. A clutch holds two to four eggs.
Sparse steppe, often near salt or steppe lakes, is typical habitat, though it also uses pasture and farmland beside freshwater. Insects make up most of its food, including locusts and termites on its African wintering grounds. After breeding, it migrates to tropical Africa for winter.
Where to find
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During the breeding season in southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, watch for evening insect hunts over open steppe by steppe and saline lakes.
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At pastures and cultivated fields beside freshwater, look to the morning sky in spring and summer for insect-catching flights.
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Across sparsely vegetated steppe, glance down too: insects are sometimes caught on the ground, though hunting is usually airborne.
