Australian Pratincole

About the Australian Pratincole

The Australian pratincole (Glareola isabella) is a species of bird in the family Glareolidae. It breeds in Australia's interior and winters in northern and eastern parts of the continent, Indonesia and New Guinea. It is a medium-sized nomadic shorebird but is commonly found in arid inland Australia. It breeds predominantly from south-western Queensland to northern Victoria, and through central Australia to the Kimberley region in Western Australia. The Australian population is estimated at 60,000 individuals.

They are a migratory species that generally move to the southern parts of their distribution range to breed during spring and summer. During winter they migrate to northern Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sulawesi and southern Borneo. Although they are common, their occurrence is unpredictable and varies in location.

The Australian pratincole was formerly placed in the monotypic genus Stiltia. It was moved to the genus Glareola based on a 2022 molecular genetic study of the Charadriiformes by David Černý and Rossy Natale that showed that the species was embedded within the genus Glareola.

The pratincole is also known as the Arnhem Land grouse... Wikipedia →