Glareola is a genus of birds in the family Glareolidae. The pratincoles are a group of birds consisting of the seven species of this genus and the Australian pratincole, the only species of the genus Stiltia.
| Glareola | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Small pratincole (Glareola lactea) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Family: | Glareolidae |
| Subfamily: | Glareolinae |
| Genus: | Glareola Brisson, 1760 |
| Type species | |
| Hirundo pratincola Linnaeus, 1766 | |
| Species | |
see text | |
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]
Species list
The genus contains seven species:[4]
- Collared pratincole (Glareola pratincola)
- Oriental pratincole (Glareola maldivarum)
- Black-winged pratincole (Glareola nordmanni)
- Madagascar pratincole (Glareola ocularis)
- Rock pratincole (Glareola nuchalis)
- Grey pratincole (Glareola cinerea)
- Small pratincole (Glareola lactea)