A field study of the Australian Pratincole

Abstract

The Australian Pratincole Stiltia isabella was studied in north-western New South Wales in the summer of late 1974. The first birds were seen in the study area on 1 October and the last departed toward the end of December. The birds fed on open shorelines of dams and pans and on roads. They nested in loose colonies on gibber plains about one kilometre from water. They fed on insects caught on the ground or on the wing. The clutch was two eggs laid on the ground without a scrape. Both sexes incubated and cared for the young. During incubation nest-relief occurred every hour and a half. After hatching, the parents led the young to a refuge under a nearby shrub or grass tuft. Adults did not seek shade in hot weather; they withstood heat well but drank often at the nearest water. Stiltia is closely related to the genus Glareola but resembles the coursers in some respects. It therefore represents a link between the subfamilies Cursoriinae and Glareolinae.