205. Black-winged Pratincole (Glareola nordmanni)

Black-winged Pratincoles are very similar in appearance to Collared Pratincoles but with a few small differences. As the name suggests, Black-winged Pratincoles have darker wings; they also lack the white trailing edge on the inner wing that Collared Pratincoles have. Their tail is slightly shorter, so that the wings extend beyond the tail tip when the bird is at rest, and they also have slightly longer legs and less red on the bill. Juveniles of both species look pretty much identical though! The habitat is similar to that of Collared Pratincoles but with more of a preference for wetter, more vegetated habitats. Black-winged Pratincoles breed mainly in central Asia, with their distribution stretching from Ukraine to the northern tip of China; they winter in parts of southern and western Africa. They are a rare vagrant to western Europe.

Black-winged Pratincole, ©Sergey Pisarevskiy, via Flickr Creative Commons.

Quite a quick one today. Bit chunky again as is my tendency.