Jerdon's Courser
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{{Taxobox | color = pink | name = Jerdon's Courser | status = Conservation status: Critical | image = jerdons_courser.jpg | image_width = 200px | image_caption = An indian stamp depicting the Jerdon's Courser | regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Aves | ordo = Charadriiformes | familia = Glareolidae | genus = Rhinoptilus | species = R. bitorquatus | binomial = Rhinoptilus bitorquatus | binomial_authority = Blyth, 1848 }} The Jerdon's Courser, Rhinoptilus bitorquatus, is a wader in the pratincole and courser family, Glareolidae. It was rediscovered in 1986 by Bharat Bhushan, a researcher at the Bombay Natural History Society after being thought to be extinct. This courser is a Restricted-range endemic found locally in India in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. It is currently only known in the Sri Lankamalleshwara Sanctuary, inhabiting sparse scrub forest interspersed with patches of bare ground. This is an unmistakable compact courser, with two brown breast-bands. It has a yellow bill with a black tip, a blackish crown, broad buff supercilium, and orange-chestnut throat patch. In flight it shows a mostly black tail and a prominent white wingbar.
This bird was known historically from only a few records, and was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery in 1986. It remains critically endangered due to loss of habitat. It is nocturnal in habit and presumed to be insectivorous. Being a rare bird, nothing is known yet about its behaviour and nesting habits.
The bird was named after the zoologist Thomas C. Jerdon. In 1988 the Indian Postal Service released a stamp celebrating its rediscovery.