A bird caught between two worlds.
10th May 2026
Pratincoles are strange birds;
Behaving like a Swallow/Swift but also like a wader. These birds spend most of their time, including foraging and nesting in damp meadows and sometimes on shorelines. Conversely though, they are also very accomplished fliers, consummately catching insects on the wing which form an important element of their diet.
Originally, they were indeed classified in the Swallow and Swift genus - Hirundo or Hirundine, however, they were subsequently placed in the genus Glareola, Latin for Gravel, a reference to their wader - like habits.
To extrapolate further - The species name Pratincola means an inhabitant of meadows, from the Latin words Pratum, Prati – Meadow and Incola - inhabitant.
I you are ever looking for these birds this is where they will be found, when not hunting insects on the wing.
Collared Pratincole.
A somewhat enigmatic but rather attractive bird to find in either of these situations.
Behaving like a Swallow/Swift but also like a wader. These birds spend most of their time, including foraging and nesting in damp meadows and sometimes on shorelines. Conversely though, they are also very accomplished fliers, consummately catching insects on the wing which form an important element of their diet.
Originally, they were indeed classified in the Swallow and Swift genus - Hirundo or Hirundine, however, they were subsequently placed in the genus Glareola, Latin for Gravel, a reference to their wader - like habits.
To extrapolate further - The species name Pratincola means an inhabitant of meadows, from the Latin words Pratum, Prati – Meadow and Incola - inhabitant.
I you are ever looking for these birds this is where they will be found, when not hunting insects on the wing.
Collared Pratincole.
A somewhat enigmatic but rather attractive bird to find in either of these situations.