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Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่

The oriental pratincole (Glareola maldivarum), also known as the grasshopper-bird or swallow-plover, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae.

Range
They are found in the warmer parts of south and east Asia, breeding from North Pakistan and the Kashmir region across into China and south west. They are migratory, wintering in both India and Pakistan, Indonesia and Australasia.

Vagrancy
They are rare north or west of the breeding range, but, amazingly, this species has occurred as far away as Great Britain more than once. The first record for the Western Palearctic was in Suffolk, England in June 1981. On 7 February 2004, 2.5 million oriental pratincoles were recorded on Eighty Mile Beach in Australia's north-west by the Australasian Wader Studies Group.

There had previously been no records of this magnitude and it is supposed that weather conditions caused much of the world's population of this species to congregate in one area.

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่

Range map
Range map from www.oiseaux.net - Ornithological Portal Oiseaux.net
www.oiseaux.net is one of those MUST visit pages if you're in to bird watching. You can find just about everything there

Etymology
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.

Description
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 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.

Length: 25 cm
Wingspan: 58 - 64 cm
Weight: 59 - 95 g
Longevity:
Distinctive Feature

Similar Species

• Black-winged Pratincole and Collared Pratincole

From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.
Female / Male / Juvenile



From opus at www.birdforum.net the forum for wild birds and birding.


Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Baby Oriental Pratincole
Lat Krabang, Bangkok - May 2020

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole in winter plumage
Bang Khaem Fish Ponds, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand - August 2020

Listen to the Oriental Pratincole

www.xeno-canto.org

Habits
An unusual feature of all 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 oriental praticole is a bird of open country, and they are often seen near water in the evening, hawking for insects.

Nesting
Their 2–3 eggs are laid on the ground.

Conservation status
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

www.birdforum.net


Sighted: (Date of first photo that I could use) 1 May 2020
Location: Wat Khomnaram (Khomnaram Temple), Phetchaburi


Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 1 May 2020 - Wat Khomnaram (Khomnaram Temple), Phetchaburi

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Baby Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Baby Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 8 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ - 15 May 2020 - Lat Krabang, Bangkok

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
16 May 2020 - Lam Takhong Dam, Nakhon Ratchasima

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ in winter plumage - 23 August 2020
eBird hotspot: Bang Khaem Fish Ponds, Nakhon Pathom

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ in winter plumage - 23 August 2020
eBird hotspot: Bang Khaem Fish Ponds, Nakhon Pathom

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่ in winter plumage - 23 August 2020
eBird hotspot: Bang Khaem Fish Ponds, Nakhon Pathom

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
19 March 2023 - eBird hotspot: Pathum Thani Rice Research Center

Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
Oriental Pratincole / นกแอ่นทุ่งใหญ่
19 March 2023 - eBird hotspot: Pathum Thani Rice Research Center



PLEASE! If I have made any mistakes identifying any bird, PLEASE let me know on my guestbook



       
                  



                                       

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