Editing Cream-colored courser

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author1=[[BirdLife International]] |year=2019 |title=''Cursorius cursor'' |volume=2019 |amends=2016 |page=e.T22735845A155429274 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22735845A155429274.en |access-date=20 September 2024}}</ref>
| image = Cream-colored courser.jpg
| image_caption = Adult bird photographed in [[Egypt]]
| genus = Cursorius
| species = cursor
| authority = ([[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1787)
| range_map = CursoriusCursorIUCNver2018 2.png
| range_map_caption = Range of ''C. cursor''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#008000|Resident|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}}{{leftlegend|#FF8080|Probably extinct|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#AAFFAA|Possibly Extant (resident)|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#AAFFFF|Possibly Extant (non-breeding)|outline=gray}}
}}
[[File:Cream-coloured Courser.jpg|thumb|Adult bird photographed in [[Dibba]], [[United Arab Emirates]]]]
[[File:Cursorius cursor MHNT 225 Moularès (Tunisie).jpg|thumb|Eggs collected from [[Tunisia]], in the collection of the [[Muséum de Toulouse]]]]
The '''cream-colored courser''' ('''''Cursorius cursor''''') is a species of [[wader]] in the [[pratincole]] and [[courser]] family, [[Glareolidae]]. Both parts of the scientific name derive from [[Latin]] ''cursor'', "runner", from ''currere'', "to run"<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n125 125]}}</ref> which describes their usual habit as they hunt their [[insect]] prey on the ground in dry open semi-desert regions of the [[Middle East]] and northern Africa.

==Range==
Cream-colored coursers are found in the [[Canary Islands]], [[Cape Verde]], [[North Africa]] and [[Southwest Asia]]. Their two eggs are laid in a ground scrape. The breeding season extends from February to September,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Maclean |first1=G.L. |editor1-last=Hoyo |editor1-first=Josep del |editor2-last=Elliott |editor2-first=Andrew |editor3-last=Sargatal |editor3-first=Jordi |year=1996 |title=Handbook of the Birds of the World |chapter=Family Glareolidae (coursers and pratincoles) |volume=3 |publisher=[[Lynx Edicions]] |location=Barcelona |pages=364–383 |isbn=978-84-87334-20-7}}</ref> but they may breed also in autumn and winter when local conditions (especially rainfall) are favourable.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Amezian |first1=M. |last2=Bergier |first2=P. |last3=Qninba |first3=A |year=2014 |title=Autumn-winter breeding by Cream-coloured Coursers ''Cursorius cursor'' is more common than previously reported |journal=Wader Study Group Bulletin |volume=121 |issue=3 |pages=177–180 |url=https://magornitho.org/files/2015/08/amezian-et-al-2014-cream-coloured-courser.pdf}}</ref> They are partially [[bird migration|migratory]], with northern and northwestern birds wintering in [[India]], [[Arabian Peninsula|Arabia]] and across the southern edge of the [[Sahara]]. Some birds also breed in the southern desert regions in northwestern India and Pakistan.<ref name=Rahmani1989/>

They are rare north of the breeding range, but this species has occurred as far away as [[Finland]], [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Description==
Cream-colored coursers have long legs, long wings, and slightly downcurved bills. The body plumage is sandy in colour, fading to whitish on the lower belly. The upperwing primary feathers and the underwings are black. The crown and nape are grey, and there is a black eyestripe and white supercilium.

In flight, this species resembles a pratincole with its relaxed wingbeats, pointed wings and dark underwings.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==Subspecies==
There are three [[subspecies]] of the cream-colored courser:<ref name=IOC/>

* ''C. c. cursor'', <small>([[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1787)</small>: [[Canary Islands]], [[North Africa]] [[Arabian Peninsula]] to [[Iraq]]
* ''C. c. bogolubovi'', <small>([[Nikolai Zarudny|Zarudny]], 1885)</small>: southeast [[Turkey]] to [[Iran]], [[Afghanistan]], South [[Pakistan]] to northwest [[India]]  
* ''C. c. exsul'', <small>([[Ernst Hartert|Hartert]], 1920)</small>: [[Cape Verde]] Islands

==Taxonomic note==
Hayman's ''Shorebirds'' treats the east African form ''littoralis'' as a race of the [[Somali courser]] rather than of cream-colored.<ref name=Hayman/> Some authorities in turn consider the [[Somali courser|Somali]], [[Burchell's courser|Burchell's]] and cream-colored coursers to be conspecific.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

==References==
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{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Hayman>{{cite book |title=Shorebirds: An Identification Guide |last1=Hayman |first1=Peter |last2=Marchant |first2=John |last3=Prater |first3=Tony |year=1986 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=0-7099-2034-2}}{{page needed|date=September 2024}}</ref>

<ref name=IOC>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | year=2019 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=World Bird List Version 9.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=24 June 2019 }}</ref>

<ref name=Rahmani1989>{{cite journal |last1=Rahmani |first1=Asad R. |last2=Manakadan |first2=Ranjit |year=1989 |title=Breeding records of Cream-coloured Courser ''Cursorius cursor cursor'' (Latham) from India |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural Historical Society |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=447–448 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48710847 |via=[[Biodiversity Heritage Library]]}}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Cursorius cursor}}
* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/cream-coloured.courser.html Cream-coloured courser photos] at [http://www.oiseaux.net Oiseaux.net]
{{Wikispecies|Cursorius cursor}}
* {{BirdLife|22735845|Cursorius cursor}}
* {{Avibase|name=Cursorius cursor}}
* {{InternetBirdCollection|cream-colored-courser-cursorius-cursor}}
* {{VIREO|Cream-colored+Courser}}
* {{IUCN_Map|22735845/166448044|Cursorius cursor}}
* {{Xeno-canto species|Cursorius|cursor|Cream-colored courser}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q219199}}

[[Category:Cursorius|cream-colored courser]]
[[Category:Birds of Cape Verde]]
[[Category:Birds of the Middle East]]
[[Category:Birds of North Africa]]
[[Category:Birds of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Wintering birds of Africa]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1787|cream-colored courser]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)|cream-colored courser]]