Cream-colored Courser

Cursorius cursor

Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Glareolidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
Protection in Spain: Vulnerable (Canarias) · Spanish Catalogue
In Spanish: Corredor sahariano

Photograph: djkelly, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 19–21 cm
Wingspan: 51–57 cm
Weight: 110 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. Nine records: one bird at Tahivilla on 11.09.87, one bird on Los Lances beach on 8.05.99, three on 14.04.00, one on 17.04.00, two on 14.04.01 and one bird on 12 Burhinidae Alcaraván Común Glareolidae Canastera Común Corredor Sahariano Canastera Común to 18.04.12; one birdd on the river Jara on 14.04.01, one bird in Guadalquitón estate on 20 and 24.04.01, and one juvenile in Vega de las Beatas (Alcalá de los Gazules) on 12.10.01.

Identification

Unmistakable. Sand coloured with distinctive white supercilium and black eyestripe. Upon flight, striking jet-black underwings and broad upperwing tips. Recently breeding in Oriental Andalucia. Comes from Morocco.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

61 %

Peak in July. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 21 April 2000
Latest record: 4 July 2024

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Vulnerable (Canarias) · Special protection (List) (Península)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: EN · Endangered · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Glareolidae
GBIF taxon key: 2480740

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: djkelly, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Cream-colored Courser

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery