Bronze-winged Courser ( Rhinoptilus chalcopterus, family: Glareolidae)

bronze winged courser kruger national park birds The Bronze-winged Courser (Latin name Rhinoptilus chalcopterus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 303 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 422 also a picture of the Bronze-winged Courser on page 321. The Bronze-winged Courser belongs to the family of birds classified as Glareolidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Bronze-winged Courser is also known by these other names: Violet-tipped Courser.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Bronze-winged Courser is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Bronze-winged Courser in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Bronze-winged Courser : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Bronze-winged Courser is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Bronze-winged Courser is about 29 cms and its weight is about 155 gms

The male and female Bronze-winged Courser have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is red.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are purple.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Bronze-winged Courser feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Bronze-winged Courser is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Rhinoptilus chalcopterus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Bronze-winged Courser is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Bronze-winged Courser are: woodlands and grasslands . The Bronze-winged Courser is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

You can see Bronze-winged Courser in flocks. The bird will often also be seen singly.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Bronsvlerkdrawwertjie

German ... Bronzeflgel-Rennvogel, Amethystrennvogel

Portuguese ... Corredor-asa-de-bronze

French ... Courvite ailes bronzes

Dutch ... Bronsvleugelrenvogel

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 303

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za