Glareola

(pratincoles), a genus of birds of the family Glareolidae of the order Charadriiformes. The body ranges from 17 to 28 cm in length. The wings are long and pointed, and the tail is forked. The bill is flattened, and the gape is large. Males and females are similar in coloration. The back is brownish or sand-colored, and the underparts are light. In some species, the throat is bordered with black. The corners of the mouth are red.

There are seven Glareola species, distributed in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Three species occur in the USSR—the collared pratincole (G. pratincola) and black-winged pratincole (G. nordmanni), found in steppe regions as far east as the Altai, and the eastern collared pratincole (G. maldivarum), found in Transbaikalia. Glareola species are migratory. They inhabit solonetz lands near bodies of water, meadows, and river valleys. A clutch contains two to four eggs, which are laid in a depression in the ground; the incubation period is 18 to 19 days. The diet consists of insects, especially locusts and grasshoppers, which the birds catch on the ground or while on the wing, often in flocks in the manner of swallows.