Burchell’s Courser
Photo: Chantelle Bosch · CC BY-SA 4.0

Coursers and Pratincoles

Burchell’s Courser

Cursorius rufus

LCLeast Concern
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.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.