Burchell’s Courser
Cursorius rufus
- Family
- Coursers and Pratincoles (Glareolidae)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
Overview
Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus) is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell.
Native to Africa, Burchell's courser is a small, diurnal, and terrestrial bird that lives in the western parts of southern Africa. Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey (usually Harvester Termites) by running on the ground.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Semidesert of southwestern Angola to Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Countries
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Burchell's courser
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
