Black-winged pratincole Black-winged pratincole The black-winged pratincole ("Glareola nordmanni") is a wader in the pratincole bird family, Glareolidae. The genus name is a diminutive of Latin "glarea", "gravel", referring to a typical nesting habitat for pratincoles. The species name commemorates the Finnish-born zoologist and explorer Alexander von Nordmann. An unusual feature of the pratincoles is that, although classed as waders, they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground. The black-winged pratincole is a bird of open country and is often seen near water in the evening, hawking for insects. This pratincole
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