the Brachschwalben summarized in 8 types to the type Glareola carries its name because of its outer similarity with swallows and the peculiarities of its habitat. they have long, pointed wings and usually a bifurcate tail. It is sociable animals. In larger groups, they catch with its short, downward bent beak and its wide mouth-column of flying insects in the morning and nightly twilight-hours preferably. As habitat, they prefer uncultivated river-hems, dried up floodplains and shores of inner-seas. Only as an exception, one finds it also of Meeresküsten.
Spread The actual Brachschwalbe (Glareola pratincola) broods in the Mediterranean-countries, at the black and Kaspischen sea. it is frequent to find also in Pakistan and India. The brood-birds of the more northern areas spend the winter in North-Africa as well as. India and Sri Lanka.
Shape The short-legged bird sees similarly with its deep-bifurcate tail of a tern. With a total-length of approximately 25 cm, the wing-length amounts to approximately 20 cm. The plumage is on the upper side of olivbraun, on the underside more brightly brown, with white stomach. This black bounded Kehlbereich be also the coral corners light-yellow, conspicuous at the otherwise black beak. Both sexes are uniformly colored.
Reproduction As sociable birds, the Brachschwalben brood in colonies. They of March until May to finding nest consist of 2-3 clay-colored, speckled eggs, that are put into one of flat scraped out hollow or on the bare ground. Both parents incubate the eggs for 18 days approximately. The slipped boys immediately run around, is still fed with from-choked food by the alto-birds, however. To the protection of the boys, the parents direct the attention of trouble-makers to itself by faking broken wings. The process is called "tempting" and is to frequently be observed with many inhabitants of a colony simultaneously.
Food Almost without exception, the Brachschwalbe carries off its from night-butterflies, bugs and winged termites existing food in the flight, only on the occasion of is scratched in the ground.
Reputations The very reputation-joyful birds express perform courtship display, at the brood-business and at common flights a multiplicity of tones, that sound very similar those of the terns, during it.
Further types Farther eastward, the Orient-Brachschwalbe (Glareola maldivarum) represents the above described type. its habits are largely same, however, it spends the winter in Australia. The Graubrachschwalbe (Glareola lactea), that is essentially smaller with only 17 cm of length, lives in the Himalayagebiet, India and Burma. they preferentially moist areas and is to often be found in very big swarms near rivers and standing waters. it follows the river-runs in the Himalaya as far as to a height of 1800 m up.
The Brachschwalben are called also locust-birds because they often follow the locust-swarms in its winter-quarters in huge number. This applies for both the Brachschwalbe and for the Schwarzflüglige Brachschwalbe (Glareola nordmanni). it moves as far as into Africa's cape-regions from the Eurasian steppes.
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