Glareola ocularis
The Madagascar Pratincole (Glareola ocularis) is a captivating member of the shorebird family, though its aerial hunting style often earns it comparisons to swallows or terns. Measuring 23-26 cm in length with a wingspan of 50-60 cm, it presents a sleek silhouette with mostly brown upperparts, a striking white rump, and a distinctly forked black tail. Key identification marks include a prominent black line extending from the bill to the eye, a bill that is red at the base fading to a black ti...
This pratincole prefers open, often dry or semi-arid habitats, including floodplains, grasslands, savannas, and shores of large rivers or lakes, typically at low elevations.
Their diet consists almost exclusively of flying insects, primarily beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, moths, and termites, which they expertly catch on the wing.
Madagascar Pratincoles are highly social birds, forming large flocks for feeding, roosting, and migration, sometimes numbering in the thousands. They are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal hunters, taking to the air at dusk and dawn, and often by moonlight, to hawk for insects with remarkable ag...
The Madagascar Pratincole exhibits a unique migratory pattern, breeding almost exclusively on the island of Madagascar and the nearby island of Mayotte in the Comoros. During the breeding season, from roughly May to September, they are widely distributed across Madagascar, particularly favoring w...
Least Concern
- The Madagascar Pratincole is one of the few shorebird relatives that hunts primarily on the wing, much like a swallow or nightjar. - It undertakes an impressive trans-oceanic migration across the Mozambique Channel, flying hundreds of kilometers between Madagascar and mainland Africa. - Unlike ...