Indian courser

The Indian courser was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the plovers in the genus Charadrius and coined the binomial name Charadrius coromandelicus.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 1 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=692 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656185 }} Gmelin based his description on the "Coromandel plover" that had been described in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his A General Synopsis of Birds.{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | pages=217-218, No. 26 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40078986 }} Latham in turn based his own description on a hand-coloured print that accompanied Comte de Buffon's Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux .{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Courvite de la côte de Coromandel | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=9 | location=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 892 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35224687 }} The Indian courser is now placed in the genus Cursorius that was introduced by Latham in 1790.{{cite book| last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1790 | title=Index Ornithologicus, Sive Systema Ornithologiae: Complectens Avium Divisionem In Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Ipsarumque Varietates | volume=2 | language=Latin | location=London | publisher = Leigh & Sotheby | page=751 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/53510176 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=August 2022 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, Crab-plover, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=7 November 2022 }} The genus name is from Latin cursor meaning "runner", from currere, "to run". The specific epithet is from the Coromandel Coast of India, the type locality.{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n125/mode/1up 125], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n118/mode/1up 118]}} The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

This courser is widespread in South Asia and overlaps with some other species such as the similar looking cream-colored courser. This species is however brighter coloured than the cream-coloured courser and has a broader black eye-stripe that begins at the base of the beak. The crown is chestnut and the breast is rufous. The nape has a dark black patch where the long longer feathers forming the white stripe meet. In flight, the rump appears white and the wing tip is not as contrastingly black as in the cream-coloured courser. The sexes are alike.{{Cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC |author2=JC Anderton |year=2005| title= Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|page=184|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions}}{{cite book|pages=39–40|url=https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofbirds24brit#page/39/mode/1up/|title=Catalogue of the birds in the British Museum. Volume 24|year=1896|publisher=British Museum, London|author=Sharpe, R Bowdler}}

The long legs are whitish and as in other coursers have only three forward pointing toes.

The species is closely related to other coursers in the region and are considered to form a superspecies with Cursorius cursor, Cursorius rufus and Cursorius temminckii.

File:Indian Courser (Cursorius coromandelicus) at Bharatpur I IMG 5436.jpg]]

This species occurs in dry stony, scrubby or rocky country but rarely on sandy terrain{{Cite book|author=Baker, ECS|year=1929|title= The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 6|edition=2nd|pages=86–87|url=https://archive.org/stream/BakerFbiBirds6/BakerFBI6#page/n121/mode/1up/|publisher=Taylor and Francis, London}} from the Indus valley east short of Bangladesh and south to the tip of Peninsular India. It sometimes occurs in the dry zone of northern Sri Lanka. The wet forest zones are avoided. In southern India, the drier zone on the east coast, the Coromandel region, where it is not uncommon{{Cite journal|author=Santharam,V |year=1996| title= Comments on some new bird records from Tamil Nadu| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=589–590|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48603863}} gives it the species name. It is also found patchily distributed in other parts of the peninsula.{{Cite journal|author=Worth, C Brooke |year=1953 |title= Additional Mysore State bird records| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume= 51| issue=2| page=510|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48202594}}{{Cite journal|author=Inglis, CM |year=1913| title= Breeding of the Indian Courser Cursorius coromandelicus in the Darbhanga District| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume= 22|issue=3|page=631|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30155640}} Other areas where they are commonly seen include the Deccan plateau and the arid regions of northwestern India in Rajasthan and Gujarat.{{Cite book|author=Jerdon, TC | year=1864| title=The Birds of India. Volume 3|publisher=George Wyman & Co., Calcutta|url=https://archive.org/stream/birdsofindiabein03jerd#page/626/mode/2up/search/cursorius|pages=626–627}} It is resident in some areas but makes local movements.{{Cite journal|author=Balachandran,S |year=1994| title= Some interesting bird records from Kaliveli Lake near Pondicherry| journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=91|issue=2|pages=317–318}}{{cite journal|author=Butler,EA |year=1876|title= Notes on the avi-fauna of Mount Aboo and Northern Guzerat|journal=Stray Feathers|volume=4| issue=1–3|pages=1–41|url=https://archive.org/stream/strayfeathersjou41876hume#page/10/mode/1up/}}

These birds are usually seen in small flocks. They are usually found where the grass is not taller than them, since the tall grass blocks their view. They feed on insects mainly termites, beetles, crickets and grasshoppers picked up from the ground in stubbly or uncultivated fields.{{cite journal|title=Feeding Ecology of Indian courser Cursorius coromandelicus| author=Munjpara, S. B.| author2=I. R. Gadhvi| journal= Indian Journal of Life Science|volume = 3|year=2013|issue=1|pages=91–96}} They run in spurts on the ground but take to flight with a hoarse creaky gwaat call. The flight is strong with rapid wing beats. They fly low and begin to run after landing.{{Cite book|pages=452–491|url=https://archive.org/stream/popularhandbooko033226mbp#page/n501/mode/2up/search/courser|author=Whistler, Hugh|title=Popular handbook of Indian birds. Edition 4|year=1949|publisher=Gurney and Jackson}}{{Cite book|author=Ali, Salim|year=1996|title=The Book of Indian Birds|edition= 12th|publisher=BNHS & Oxford University Press|page=155}}{{Cite journal|author=Stairmand DA|year=1971 |title=The Indian Courser|url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW11#page/n41/mode/2up|volume=11|issue=3|pages=3–4|journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers }}

They breed mainly from March to August. Records exist from mid May in southern India and Sri Lanka and mid April in Darbhanga.{{cite journal|title=Breeding by the Indian courser Cursorius coromandelicus in winter in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India| author=Bharos, A. M. K. Sahu, M.| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume = 99|year=2002|issue=2|pages=299–300|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48604197}} They nest in a scrape on bare stony ground laying 2 or 3 speckled and well-camouflaged eggs that are very spherical.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/catalogueofcolle02britrich#page/75/mode/1up/|page=75|title=Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum. Volume 2|year=1902|publisher=British Museum|author=Oates, Eugene W}} The chicks are protectively coloured and on alarm crouch and remain immobile making them extremely difficult to spot.{{Cite journal| author=Phillips,WWA |year= 1942 | title= Some observations on the nesting habits of the Indian Courser, Cursorius coromandelicus [Gmelin]| journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume= 43| issue=2| pages=200–205|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48227880}} Adults do not call or display when the nest or chicks are approached.{{cite book|title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 3|edition=2nd|year=1981|pages=9–11|author1=Ali, S |author2=S D Ripley|publisher=Oxford University Press}} The chicks are able to move upon hatching but are initially fed by the parents and begin to forage on their own after a week.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.3488|title=Comparative analyses of the influence of developmental mode on phenotypic diversification rates in shorebirds| year=2006|last1=Thomas|first1=Gavin H.| last2=Freckleton|first2=Robert P.|last3=Székely|first3=Tamás|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=273| pmid=16769632|issue=1594|pmc=1634920|pages=1619–24}}{{Cite book|pages=323–325|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924000044994#page/n343/mode/1up|title=The nests and eggs of Indian birds. Volume 3|edition=2nd|author=Hume, AO|year=1890| publisher=R H Porter}}

The arid and open habitats used by the Indian courser are threatened by human activities such as construction and agriculture. In parts of Gujarat, the species was very common in short-grass covered open and fallow lands but has vanished in many areas. In some areas, vehicular activity and industrialization have destroyed habitats where they formerly occurred.{{Cite journal|author1=Munjpara S. B. |author2=I. R. Gadhvi |year=2009| title= Threats to foraging habitat of Indian Courser (Cursorius coromandelicus) in Abdasa Taluka, Kachchh, Gujarat, India | journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=339–340|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51679238}}

File:Indian Courser.jpg|Indian Courser at Mayureshwar, Maharashtra, India

Indian-Courser.jpg|In flight at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

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Category:Cursorius

Category:Birds of Pakistan

Category:Birds of India

Category:Birds described in 1789

Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin