Two-Banded Courser - Rhinoptilus africanus
Coursers are clearly related to Pratincoles, my first encounter with which took place at the Pivot Fields in Dubai earlier in the year where I chanced across a small delightful flock of Collared Pratincoles. If you look at my previous post you can see that I was "salivating" over the different species I might see in Africa once I got to Tanzania. As things stand I saw the one species but it wasn't a disapointment. A real beauty - also called Double-banded Courser in some textbooks with a different latin name (Smutsornis) I will have to let that issue go for now and sort it out later.
These birds are listed as "Least Concern" on the Bird Life interntional. That means a stable population trend (no decrease of greater than 30 % in 3 years or 3 generations). Also a stable population - that means a population of over 10,000. I am pleased with this photo which really shows of the crisp scalloped or scaled edges to the wing feathers and the clean black breast bands. This is a handsome bird. The eye ring and large dark eye complete the portrait.
This species is a shore bird. They spend their days hiding in the shade and become active in the twighlight hunting insects over the sand, short grass and salt pans. Unlike Praticoles which hunt on the wing the "Coursers" hunt their prey mainly by foot and that makes sense if you compare the leg length between this species and the Pratincole that I have linked to earlier in this piece.
Lake Manyara, Tanzania
July 2012
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