# Somali courser (Cursorius somalensis)

> The Somali courser: a wader of semi-desert and short grass, how to tell it from the cream-coloured courser, its two subspecies, and its records across Somali regions.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/nature/somali-courser/
Last checked: 2026-11-13
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

The Somali courser (*Cursorius somalensis*) is a wader of the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. Unusually for a wader, it lives in open dry country: semi-desert, short grassland and burnt grass, where it hunts insects by running on the ground. It is native to Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia, Somalia, the far southeast of South [Sudan](/en/diaspora/sudan/), and northern and eastern Kenya ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)). Shelley described it in 1885 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## How to recognise it

It is 19 to 22 cm long. It looks much like the cream-coloured courser but its body is a darker greyish-brown. In flight only the outer half of the underwing is black, while the cream-coloured courser's whole underwing is black. Both have a black stripe and white eyebrow behind the eye that look like a "V" from behind ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)).

In the north of its range it meets cream-coloured coursers that come for the winter, so care is needed to tell them apart (same source).

## Two subspecies

The IOC World Bird List accepts two subspecies ([IOC World Bird List, coursers](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sandpipers/)):

- *C. s. somalensis* Shelley, 1885: Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia and Somalia.
- *C. s. littoralis* Erlanger, 1905: far southeast South Sudan, northern and eastern Kenya, and southern Somalia.

It has been accepted as a species of its own only since near the end of the 20th century. Before that, some authors treated its two forms as subspecies of the cream-coloured courser and others as subspecies of Burchell's courser of southern Africa ([Wikipedia, Somali courser, backup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)).

## Records in Somali lands

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 56 records of the Somali courser from Somalia, dated from 1901 to 2025 ([GBIF occurrence search, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=4849822)). By type: 52 sightings by people, 3 museum specimens, 1 other record.

Records that name a region (53 of 56), by region: [Woqooyi Galbeed](/en/regions/woqooyi-galbeed/) 19, [Togdheer](/en/regions/togdheer/) 14, [Sanaag](/en/regions/sanaag/) 6, Middle [Shabelle](/en/economy/farming-and-harvests/) 4, [Awdal](/en/regions/awdal/) 3, [Sool](/en/regions/sool/) 3, [Bari](/en/regions/bari/) 2, [Hiiraan](/en/regions/hiiraan/) 2 (same source).

The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1901, from a place recorded as "Kismaayo", held by SMF ([GBIF record 767397324](https://id.senckenberg.de/object/sesam-381526)).

The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Sanaag, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) ([GBIF record 6690808301](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/6690808301)).

GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.

## Red List status

The IUCN Red List category for the Somali courser is **Least Concern** ([IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732297A95046219.en); [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## Classification

| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Charadriiformes |
| Family | Glareolidae |
| Genus | Cursorius |
| Species | *Cursorius somalensis* |

Scientific name with author: *Cursorius somalensis* Shelley, 1885 ([GBIF Backbone Taxonomy](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)).

## Related pages

- [Birds of Somalia](/en/nature/birds-of-somalia/)

## Sources

- [IUCN Red List assessment](https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22732297A95046219.en)
- [GBIF species page](https://www.gbif.org/species/4849822)
- [GBIF occurrence records, Somalia](https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?country=SO&taxon_key=4849822)
- [IOC World Bird List](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/sandpipers/)
- [Wikipedia (backup)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_courser)

---
I want to help with this: email hello@calankii.com. Fix this page: email hello@calankii.com with the page link and your source.