Overview
The quail-plover is a small, short-tailed cursorial bird which looks a little like a miniature courser when on the ground. The upperparts are a sandy-rufous colour and the underparts mainly whitish. They show a distinctive wing pattern in flight when the contrast between the white primary coverts and the black with white-tipped remiges to form a distinct diagonal band on the upperwing. Its fluttering flight style is rather lark-like. The females are slightly darker than the males while the juveniles are paler.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Bird
- Family
- Turnicidae
- Genus
- Ortyxelos
- Species
- meiffrenii
Habitat
Dry grassland and thorn scrub.
Diet
Seeds and insects.
Behavior
The quail-plover is usually found singly or in pairs. It is rather skulking preferring to move stealthily through grass but also running around like a courser in the open. Tends to crouch down and hide when approached and flushes only when the observer is almost on top of it and then flies off with a jerky undulating flight. It breeds during the dry season and moves north ahead of the rains. It tends to be more active at night and to call with a soft low whistle like the wind going through a pipe during moonlit nights.
Hunting
Hunted indigenously.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.