Rock pratincole Rock pratincole The rock pratincole ("Glareola nuchalis") is a species of bird in the family Glareolidae. There are two subspecies of rock pratincole: The rock pratincole ("Glareola nuchalis") is a native African wading bird. Mature adults have dark gray or brown plumage with a white line beginning beneath the eye extending to the back of the neck like a collar. Their wings are long and dark with a distinct white patch on the underwing. Their tail is forked and they usually have a white belly. The bill is black with a red base and the legs and eyes are coral
Oriental pratincole are brown with black flight feathers. The belly is white. The underwings are chestnut. Very good views are needed to distinguish this species from other pratincoles, such as the very similar collared pratincole, which also has a chestnut underwing, and black-winged pratincole which shares the black upperwing flight feathers and lack of a white trailing edge to the wing. These features are not always readily seen in the field, especially as the chestnut underwing appears black unless excellent views are obtained. An unusual feature of all pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on