Double-banded Courser

Rhinoptilus africanus (Temminck, 1807)

Double-banded Courser, Rhinoptilus africanus, lives in Ethiopia, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania, and breeds in flat, stony or gravelly semi-desert with firm sandy ground, tufty grass or thorn scrub. It is a bird of the courser family, and its most distinctive feature is the narrow black line that runs from the bill base through the eye to the nape. The crown is pale and streaked, while the cheeks, chin, throat and neck are buff or white with dark flecking. The back and wing coverts are sandy brown with darker centres and pale edging.

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Glareolidae — Coursers, Pratincoles

Breeding range

Africa: tropical to subtropical stony plains of e and s Africa