CreatureData

Burchell's courser

Cursorius rufus Gould, 1837

LCLeast Concernbirds

The burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus) is a species in the family Glareolidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 75 g to 133 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus)
Photo: Chantelle Bosch · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the burchell's courser

Weight
75 g – 133 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the burchell's courser live?

Not recorded

What is the burchell's courser?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus) is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. The name of this bird commemorates the English naturalist William John Burchell.

Native to Africa, Burchell's courser is a small, diurnal, and terrestrial bird that lives in the western parts of southern Africa. Although classed as waders, these are birds of dry open country, preferably semi-desert, where they typically hunt their insect prey (usually Harvester Termites) by running on the ground. It principally feeds off of insects and lives in open, short grasslands and burnt veld. It grows up to 22 cm (8.7 in) and on average weighs about 75 g (2.6 oz) as an adult.

From the Wikipedia article “Burchell's courser” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Burchell%27s_courser&oldid=1380254179), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the burchell's courser endangered?

The burchell's courser is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the burchell's courser classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyGlareolidae
  6. genusCursorius
  7. SpeciesCursorius rufus Gould, 1837

Synonyms Cursorius cursor rufus, Cursorius cursor theresae, Cursorius rufus rufus, Cursorius rufus theresae

Other names and names in other languages (34)
  • BUCOEnglish
  • BloukopdrawwertjieAfrikaans
  • corredor de BurchellCatalan
  • běhulík ryšavýCzech
  • rhedwr BurchellWelsh
  • Sydlig ØrkenløberDanish
  • Afrikansk ØrkenløberDanish
  • RostrennvogelGerman
  • rufa kuruloEsperanto
  • Corredor rufoSpanish
  • lõuna-kõrbejooksurEstonian
  • rusoaavikkojuoksijaFinnish
  • Courvite de BurchellFrench
  • riđa trkalicaCroatian
  • vörös futómadárHungarian
  • Corrione di BurchellItalian
  • ミナミスナバシリJapanese
  • Burčelio bėgūnėlisLithuanian
  • Rosse RenvogelDutch
  • Burchells RenvogelDutch
  • hvitvingeløperNorwegian
  • rączak rdzawyPolish
  • corredeira-ruivaPortuguese
  • corredor-de-burchellPortuguese
  • Рыжий бегунокRussian
  • Бегунок БурчеддаRussian
  • Бегунок БурчеллаRussian
  • behavec hrdzavýSlovak
  • Berčelova trkalicaSerbian
  • kapökenlöpareSwedish
  • Ak Kanatlı ÇölkoşarıTurkish
  • бігунець рудийUkrainian
  • 布氏走鸻Chinese
  • 布歇爾氏走鴴Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the burchell's courser

Other species in the same genus Cursorius.

LC, Least Concern

Somali courser

Cursorius somalensis

GlareolidaeNo free photo yet

CompareBurchell's courser vs Cream-coloured courserBurchell's courser vs Indian courserBurchell's courser vs Temminck's courserBurchell's courser vs Somali courser

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the burchell's courser?

An adult burchell's courser weighs 75 g – 133 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the burchell's courser endangered?

The burchell's courser is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the burchell's courser?

The burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus) belongs to the family Glareolidae in the order Charadriiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

Embed a card for this animal on your own site

Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.

Preview the card

APA

CreatureData. (2026). Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/burchell-s-courser

MLA

“Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/burchell-s-courser.

BibTeX
@misc{burchell_s_courser_2026,
  title = {Burchell's courser (Cursorius rufus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/burchell-s-courser},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}