Oriental pratincole Oriental pratincole The oriental pratincole ("Glareola maldivarum"), also known as the grasshopper-bird or swallow-plover, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae. The genus name is a diminutive of Latin "glarea", "gravel", referring to a typical nesting habitat for pratincoles. The species name "maldivarum" refers to the type locality, the ocean near the Maldive Islands; the type specimen, caught alive at sea, survived for a month on flies. These birds have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails. They have short bills, which is an adaptation to aerial feeding. The back and head are brown, and the wings
Australian pratincole winter they migrate to northern Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sulawesi and southern Borneo to over-winter . Although they are common, their occurrence is unpredictable and varies in location. The Australian pratincole belongs to the family Glareolidae. It is monotypic within the genus "Stiltia". Pratincole, Arnhem Land grouse, Australian courser, roadrunner, nankeen plover, swallow-plover. The Australian pratincole is a medium-sized slender shorebird with long legs, long pointed wings and a short decurved bill. It is 19–24 cm long, has a wingspan of 50–60 cm and weighs 55-75grams. The sexes look alike however their breeding and non-breeding plumage differs. Breeding plumage –