How do you identify a Jerdon's Courser?

It is an unmistakable compact courser, with two brown breast-bands. Full identification notes are on this page.

How big is a Jerdon's Courser?

The Jerdon's Courser is a medium sized bird weighing about 121 g.

Where can you see a Jerdon's Courser?

The Jerdon's Courser is endemic to India, which is the only country where it occurs.

What birds look similar to a Jerdon's Courser?

The Jerdon's Courser is most easily confused with the Three-banded Courser and the Bronze-winged Courser.

Is the Jerdon's Courser endangered?

The Jerdon's Courser is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Jerdon's Courser

Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

Coursers and Pratincoles · Charadriiformes · Legendary

The Jerdon's Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) is a legendary coursers and pratincol found only in India, weighing about 121 g. Jerdon's courser is a nocturnal bird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae endemic to India.

Critically EndangeredLegendaryEndemicEats invertebratesshrublandscrape nest121 g

About the Jerdon's Courser

Jerdon's courser is a nocturnal bird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae endemic to India. The bird was discovered by the surgeon-naturalist Thomas C. Jerdon in 1848 but not seen again until its rediscovery in 1986.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to identify it

It is an unmistakable compact courser, with two brown breast-bands. It has a yellow base to the black bill, a blackish crown, broad buff supercilium, and an orange-chestnut throat patch. A narrow white crown stripe runs on top of the head. In-flight it shows a mostly black tail and a prominent white wing bar. It is crepuscular and vocal at dawn and dusk with a series of staccato Twick-too...Twick-too... Twick-too or yak-wak.. yak-wak calls. The notes are repeated at the rate of about 1 per second and uttered 2 to 16 times and several birds in the vicinity may join in the calling.

When to see it

Best months: January, February, March, September, December, with peak activity in September. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Jerdon's Courser?: It is an unmistakable compact courser, with two brown breast-bands. Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Jerdon's Courser?: The Jerdon's Courser is a medium sized bird weighing about 121 g.
Where can you see a Jerdon's Courser?: The Jerdon's Courser is endemic to India, which is the only country where it occurs.
What birds look similar to a Jerdon's Courser?: The Jerdon's Courser is most easily confused with the Three-banded Courser and the Bronze-winged Courser.
Is the Jerdon's Courser endangered?: The Jerdon's Courser is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Jerdon's Courser for real

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