Diet and Foraging

Microhabitat for Foraging

Temminck's Courser feeds on the ground, picking up food items on the surface or at the base of grass tufts. It also regularly digs for its food (115 Hockey, P. A. R., and C. Douie (1995). Waders of Southern Africa. Struik Winchester, Cape Town, South Africa. Close ). The species favors recently burnt grassland or clearings for foraging and nesting, and it may arrive within hours. The post-fire environment provide three foraging benefits: 1) within the first few days after a fire, dead or injured invertebrates would make for easy capture, 2) the bare, open terrain faciltates detecting prey, and 3) within a few days to weeks of a fire, invertebrates are attracted to the post-fire flush of new vegetation growth, which usually coincides with the time when there are chicks to feed. This courser regularly forages in livestock enclosures or at dung middens, where an abundance of coprophagous macrodetritivores such as beetles and termites can be found (116 Ingle, J. C. (1914). Birds collected and observed in the Sabi District of the Transvaal. Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union 10:8–15 Close , G. D. Engelbrecht, personal observation).

Food Capture and Consumption

It feeds in the typical courser manner, characterized by a run-stop-peck-run foraging style. Much of its food is obtained by digging in soft soils, but prey is also captured on the surface or gleaned from the vegetation.

Major Food Items

Invertebrates form the major part of this species' diet, although small amounts of plant material, e.g., seeds, and grit, are also consumed, possibly accidentally (116 Ingle, J. C. (1914). Birds collected and observed in the Sabi District of the Transvaal. Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union 10:8–15 Close , 32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close , 117 Kok, O. B., and A. C. Kok (2002). Diet of three courser species in an open grassland habitat, central South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 32(1):39–42. Close ). A major part of the diet constitutes termites (order Blattodea), especially northern harvester termites (Hodotermes mossambicus) and their alates, as well as pugnacious ants (Family Formicidae, Anoplolepis spp.) (118 Prins, A. J. (1982). Review of Anoplolepis with reference to male genitalia, and notes on Acropyga (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Annals of the South Africa Museum 89:215–247. Close , 32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close , 117 Kok, O. B., and A. C. Kok (2002). Diet of three courser species in an open grassland habitat, central South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 32(1):39–42. Close ). Very young chicks are fed mainly soft-bodied invertebrates, such as lepidopteran larvae (order Lepidoptera) (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). Other food items recorded include grasshoppers (order Orthoptera), spiders (order Araneae), solifugids (order Solifugae), assassin bugs (order Hemiptera), beetles (order Coleoptera), and molluscs (119 Borrett, R. P. (1973). Notes on the food of some Rhodesian birds. Ostrich 44(3–4):145–148. Close 32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close , 117 Kok, O. B., and A. C. Kok (2002). Diet of three courser species in an open grassland habitat, central South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 32(1):39–42. Close , 2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). Given its preference for recently burned areas, it is likely that dead or injured prey are likely to form part of its diet (32 Maclean, G. L. (1996). Glareolidae (Coursers and Pratincoles). In Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, Editors), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. pp. 364–383. Close ).

Quantitative Analysis

The species is mainly insectivorous, with invertebrates comprising 94.4% of the diet. Termites form the main component of the diet of Temminck's Courser (78.7% of the dry mass and present in 80% of the stomachs), followed by grasshoppers (8.3%), and beetles (4.6%) (117 Kok, O. B., and A. C. Kok (2002). Diet of three courser species in an open grassland habitat, central South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 32(1):39–42. Close ). Plant matter and inorganic material, such as grit, constitute less than 3% of the diet (117 Kok, O. B., and A. C. Kok (2002). Diet of three courser species in an open grassland habitat, central South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 32(1):39–42. Close ).

Study needed.

Study needed.

The species prefers areas with limited vegetation cover and is therefore exposed to direct sunlight and high temperatures at certain times, especially during the summer. Temminck's Courser employs behavioral and physiological mechanisms to offload body heat in such conditions. Behaviorally, birds can adjust their foraging times to cooler hours of the day, seek shade, stand on slightly elevated objects to reduce radiant heat from the surface, or hold their wings slightly away from their bodies (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). Other mechanisms include raising the crown and dorsal feathers to allow air to reach the skin and conduct heat away from the body. Similarly, incubating adults often expose their legs while incubating, possibly allowing for another avenue to reduce body heat. Contrastingly, in cold weather, birds will have their feathers flat and cover their legs to reduce heat loss. Physiologically, Temminck's Courser regulates its body temperature through panting, which is performed almost continuously during very hot conditions. This behavior is performed by individuals of all ages, including recently hatched chicks. However, heat loss through panting is not fully developed in chicks, and if chicks are left in exposed conditions during high temperatures, heat stress sets in rapidly.

Drinking

Coursers don't drink surface water and fulfil all their water requirements through their diet. Water conservation is, therefore, crucial for coursers. Dixon (120 Dixon, J. E. W. (1975). Nasal salt secretion from Burchell’s Courser. Madoqua 9(1):63–64. Close ) showed that Burchell's Courser (Cursorius rufus) possesses nasal salt glands that excrete excess salts obtained through its diet. Inspection of images in the Macaulay Library revealed that Temminck's Courser also employs such a strategy to aid its water conservation.

Defecation

There is no information available on the defecation behavior of this species.