Glareola

The genus Glareola was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the collared pratincole (Glareola pratincola) as the type species.^[1][2] The genus name is a diminutive of Latin glarea, "gravel", referring to a typical nesting habitat.^[3]

The genus contains eight species:^[4]

• Madagascar pratincole, Glareola ocularis – breeds rocky coastal and river islets of northwestern and eastern Madagascar; winters coasts and estuaries of eastern Africa from southern Somalia to northern Mozambique
• Rock pratincole, Glareola nuchalis – rocky rivers of tropical Africa
• Australian pratincole, Glareola isabella – breeds northern Australia (Kimberley region, northern Western Australia, eastward to inland eastern Australia and southward to northern Victoria); winters south-eastern Indonesia to southern New Guinea
• Small pratincole, Glareola lactea – eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan to India and Indochina
• Grey pratincole, Glareola cinerea – rivers of Mali to Cameroon, western Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Angola
• Oriental pratincole, Glareola maldivarum – breeds patchily in grassland near water from western India and Sri Lanka eastward to southeastern Siberia and southward to Philippines; winters grassy fields of islands of northern Indian Ocean and Indian Peninsula eastward through northern Australia and western Micronesia
• Black-winged pratincole, Glareola nordmanni – breeds saline steppe near water from central Ukraine and southwestern Russia eastward to eastern Kazakhstan; winters in grassland near water of eastern Namibia, Botswana, and northern South Africa
• Collared pratincole, Glareola pratincola – breeds in southern temperate to tropical grassland near water, central west Palearctic and Africa; winters in Africa