Cursorius temminckii
Records: 55
Drafted by: Faansie Peacock
Draft Text Last Updated: 14 June 2005
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Distribution: Recorded from both the highveld (e.g. Rietvlei NR, Bronkhorstspruit town, Ezemvelo PGP) and the bushveld biomes (e.g. Borakalalo NP, Buffelsdrift Conservancy, Mabusa NR, Mkhombo NR, Seringveld Conservancy and Zaagkuildrift & Kgomo-Kgomo.
Gaps in Knowledge: The extent and nature of movements are complicated and unclear. More data might provide a clearer picture of the situation.
Habitat: Temminck’s Coursers specialize in early stages of succession after a disturbance event (SABAP 1: 446), e.g. a veldfire, ploughing of agricultural field, drying up of a waterbody etc, and can be seen as fugitive species, in that they must continually disperse to new sites for successful breeding and survival. It is thus associated with open structured habitats, such as overgrazed grasslands, trampled cattle pens, dried up dams or pans, agricultural fields, recently burnt veld, airstrips and dry floodplains. Although it may be common in recently burnt savanna systems, it avoids denser woodland types, and vacates the area when grass height increases above a certain threshold level.
Status and movements: Present throughout the year. Highly nomadic, although there seems to be an influx in the dry season. About 80% of all records were obtained in the drier half of the year (April – September). In particular, September comprised almost a third of all records. In late summer (when grass is generally too high to support this species), numbers decrease. Maclean & Herremans (in SABAP 1: 446) demonstrated that Temminck’s Coursers move into the arid western regions during the rainy season – PCC/BiG data supports this. However, the presence of both a breeding subspecies (C. t. ruvanensis) and a non-breeding migrant (C. t. temminckii) in the region complicates analysis of movement patterns. The latter breeds in the Sahel, and migrates SE to Southern Africa, where it is present from late March to July. Central and E African populations of the race ruvanensis breed from late June – October, after which they are thought to migrate to southern Africa (Hockey 1995). The higher number of winter and spring records in the PCC/BiG database, could be evidence of the presence of the nominate race, but the lack of late summer records does not indicate a significant influx of ruvanensis. It must be stressed however, that the 55 records obtained thus far, are too few to draw any sound conclusions at this stage.
Apart from major migratory movements, extensive local movements also occur. Temminck’s Coursers are particularly fond of recently burnt areas, and they have been reported to arrive at such sites within an hour (SABAP 1: 446), although arrival after 1 – 2 days is more common. They may start breeding within a week after the burn occurred (Hockey 1995). Breeding is coincided with spring, when large areas of burnt fields are available, and is most prevalent between August & November. The only breeding record from Tembasile Dam on 6 October 2004 (R. Geddes).
Population: Difficult to determine due to frequent, unpredictable movements, but probably widely overlooked and more common than the PCC/BiG records indicate. The total population in the region probably exceeds 1000 birds at times. It was recorded most often in groups of 2 – 4 birds, although singletons and groups of up to 12 birds were also recorded.
Conservation: This is one of the few species that is benefited by overgrazing and frequent burning, and it is also capable of exploiting fallow or recently planted agricultural fields to some extent. Bush encroachment and human settlement have displaced Temminck’s Coursers from previously suitable habitat, but at this stage, it is not a conservation priority.