Australian pratincole than oriental pratincole ("Glareola maldivarum"). Juveniles with worn plumage and birds in non-breeding plumage could also be confused with the oriental pratincole The habitat of the Australian pratincole is treeless, open and sparse wooded plains, grasslands, claypans and gibberstone. Most of these areas are usually in arid and semi-arid rainfall zones. They are also sometimes found around the margins of wetlands, creeks, river beds, bore drains, lagoons, springs, claypans and sewage farms. During the breeding season they need scattered low shrubland as the chicks use the shrubs to hide and shelter in. Their diet consists of mainly insects, spiders and
Pratincole resting in the warmest part of the day. Like the coursers, the pratincoles are found in warmer parts of the Old World, from southern Europe and Africa east through Asia to Australia. Species breeding in temperate regions are long-distance migrants. Their two to four eggs are laid on the ground in a bare scrape. The downy pratincole chicks are able to run as soon as they are hatched. The Australian pratincole, the only species not in the genus "Glareola", is more terrestrial than the other pratincoles, and may be intermediate between this group and the coursers. The name "pratincole" comes