Collared pratincole

At a glance

Key facts in one look

Human interaction: It is not a threat to people. It is not venomous and not edible as wild food in any practical sense on this page. Leave wild birds alone; nests on open ground are easily destroyed by trampling or vehicles.

Gallery

Collared pratincole in photos

Identification

How to identify Collared pratincole

A swallow-like wader with long pointed wings, a forked tail, and a black throat collar in breeding plumage. Chestnut underwing coverts separate it from black-winged pratincole. Confirmed in Georgia on the 2024 checklist as a breeding migrant.

1. 01

   Length about 24–28 cm at species level; wingspan often given as about 60–70 cm. Mass is often around 60–100 g. A separate measured series from Georgia is not given on this page. The bill is short and curved, with a red base in adults; the legs are short and dark. In flight the silhouette is tern- or swallow-like: long pointed wings and a deeply forked tail.

2. 02

   Breeding adults are brown above and paler below, with a buff throat bordered by a thin black collar (the “collar” of the English name). The belly is whitish. The underwing coverts are chestnut; the flight feathers are dark. A pale trailing edge to the secondaries is often visible. When perched, the outer tail feathers often reach or pass the wing tips — longer than in black-winged pratincole. Non-breeding and juvenile birds lose a clean collar; the throat looks mottled or plain, so underwing colour and tail length matter more.

3. 03

   Black-winged pratincole (Glareola nordmanni) is also confirmed in Georgia on the 2024 checklist, but only as a migrant (M), coded NT globally and nationally. Its underwing coverts are black, not chestnut; the tail is shorter relative to the wing tips; the upperparts are often darker. Good light or a photograph of the underwing is needed. Oriental pratincole (Glareola maldivarum) is not on the 2024 Georgian confirmed list used here. True swallows and martins lack the wader bill and ground-running habit. This atlas does not yet have a separate black-winged pratincole page.

4. 04

   It is not a threat to people. A long-winged brown bird hawking insects over open wet ground in Georgia in the warm season may be this species or black-winged pratincole — check underwing colour.