Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Considered to be generally silent, the most commonly heard vocalization is a sharp, metallic “err-err-err” or “het-het-het-herr het-het-het-herr...” given in flight and likened to the sound made by a rusty hinge or a toy trumpet . Other vocalizations include contact and alarm calls, as well as the begging and distress calls of the chicks. In general, little is known about the vocal repertoire, phenology, sex differences, and social context of the species' vocalizations.

Development

Study needed.

Vocal Array

Temminck's Courser is generally silent on the ground unless it is agitated about the presence of a potential threat to its young. The flight contact calls are the most common calls, and although they are rather nondescript, they are distinctive nonetheless. Calls can be divided into contact calls, territorial display flight calls, various calls associated with anxiety or agitation, a flight alarm call, adult alarm calls to chicks, and chick contact and distress calls.

Contact Calls

Two contact calls, a drawn-out err call and a short poo call (121 Skead, C. J. (1995). Life-history Notes on East Cape Bird Species (1940–1990). Volume 1. Algoa Regional Services Council, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Close ), are usually given in flight but also on the ground. Ground-based contact calls are associated with agitated adults when their chicks are threatened. In-flight and ground-based contact calls differ sufficiently for several parameters to regard them as subtypes. It is unknown whether both calls form part of an individual's vocal repertoire or if they are age- or sex-specific calls (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ).

The err calls are plaintive, metallic, somewhat grating, calls delivered as err-err-errrr or err-err-err-errrr, likened to a rusty door hinge (121 Skead, C. J. (1995). Life-history Notes on East Cape Bird Species (1940–1990). Volume 1. Algoa Regional Services Council, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Close ). In-flight err calls are statistically significantly longer than ground-based err calls (in-flight err call mean duration of 0.22 s ± 0.06 SD, range 0.13–0.38 s, n = 52; ground-based err call 0.14 s ± 0.08 SD, range 0.04–0.57 s, n = 69; Mann-Whitney U-test, p < 0.001 ) and are higher-pitched (in-flight err call mean peak frequency of 2,328.01 Hz ± 386.30 SD, range 861.33–2,842.38 Hz, n = 52; ground-based err call 1,188.86 Hz ± 134.03 SD, range 750.00–1,406.25 Hz, n = 69; Mann-Whitney U-test, p < 0.001 ) (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ).

The poo calls are short, single notes typically delivered in conjunction with err calls and, unlike with err calls, there is no statistically significant difference in the duration of in-flight and ground-based poo calls (mean duration of all poo calls 0.09 s ± 0.03 SD, range 0.04–0.14 s, n = 38) (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). Similar to err calls, the in-flight poo calls are also statistically significantly higher-pitched than ground-based ones (in-flight poo call mean peak frequency of 2,212.73 Hz ± 287.03 SD, range 1,292.00–2,497.85 Hz, n = 25; ground-based poo call 1,197.12 Hz ± 109.29 SD, range 843.75–1,312.5 Hz, n = 13; Mann-Whitney U-test, p < 0.001 ) (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ).

The species is said to perform a territorial display flight lasting 1–3 min, during which it delivers a flight display call (122 Evans, M. I., and A. Balmford (1992). Birds in the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. Scopus 16:34–49. Close , 123 Barlow, C. R. (2002). First nest record for Bronze-winged Courser Cursorius chalcopterus in Senegambia. Bulletin of the African Bird Club 9(2):134–135. Close , but see 2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). This call is described as a short, grating but slightly piping note repeated every 2–5 s for the duration of the display flight.

Agitated Calls

In addition to the ground-based err and poo contact calls, adults with chicks deliver a variety of other distress calls, including wik, tuc, peeu, paay, and awk calls (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). The wik call ( e.g., at 0.44 s) is a very short, bubbly-like call (mean duration of 0.01 s, range 0.01–0.02 s, n = 59 calls; mean peak frequency of 964.51 Hz ± 183.46 SD, range 750.00–1,312.5 Hz, n = 59 calls). The tuc call ( e.g., at 1.34 s) is also a single, short note, but slightly longer and pitched at a slightly higher frequency (mean duration of 0.03 s, range 0.02–0.03 s, n = 12 calls; mean peak frequency of 1,273.44 Hz ± 74.34 SD, range 1,125.00–1,406.25 Hz, n = 12 calls) than a wik call. Two similar-sounding piping, nasal calls, a short peeu (e.g., XC134283 at 1.92 s) and a slightly longer paay (e.g., XC134283 at 2.16 s) call, are usually delivered together, either on the ground or in flight (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). These calls may be sex-specific calls (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ). There is a statistically significant difference in the duration of peeu and paay calls (Mann-Whitney U-test, p < 0.001), but there are no significant differences in the mean peak frequencies of these two calls (Mann-Whitney U-test, p = 0.4). The mean duration of a peeu call is 0.08 s ± 0.02 SD (range 0.04–0.18 s, n = 55 calls) compared to 0.12 s ± 0.02 SD (range 0.09–0.14 s, n = 15 calls) for paay calls. The mean peak frequency of peeu calls (2,378.14 Hz ± 381.30 SD, range 1,808.79–3,014.65 Hz, n = 55 calls) is, however, similar to paay calls (2,440.43 Hz ± 128.86 SD, range 2,325.59–3,014.65 Hz, n = 55 calls). The awk call ( e.g., at 0.94 s) is a single soft, somewhat hoarse note lasting, on average 0.07 s ± 0.01 SD (n = 8 calls) and has a mean peak frequency of 949.22 Hz ± 33.15 SD (range 937.50–1,031.25 Hz, n = 12 calls) (range 0.04–0.18 s, n = 8 calls) (2 Engelbrecht, D. (2025). Notes on the behaviour and breeding biology of Temminck’s Courser Cursorius temminckii. The Lark 58:79–86. Close ).

Alarm Calls

The alarm call to chicks is a sharp, rapidly repeated cheerr-cheerr (124 Farkas, T. (1962). Contribution to the bird fauna of Barberspan. Ostrich Supplement 4:1–39. Close , 121 Skead, C. J. (1995). Life-history Notes on East Cape Bird Species (1940–1990). Volume 1. Algoa Regional Services Council, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Close ). The flight alarm call is described as a single metallic twung, like a piece of taut elastic being plucked (121 Skead, C. J. (1995). Life-history Notes on East Cape Bird Species (1940–1990). Volume 1. Algoa Regional Services Council, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Close ). It is difficult to confirm from a phonetic description of a call, but the twung call may simply be an alternative expression of the usual err call heard when an individual or a flock takes flight.

Chick Calls

Chicks call a keeu contact call, a short, sharp single note first increasing in frequency and then decreasing, resembling a downward-facing parabola (mean duration of 0.17 s ± 0.03 SD, range 0.13–0.22 s, n = 14 calls; mean peak frequency of 2,537.95 Hz ± 44.50 SD, range 2,437.50–2,625.00 Hz, n = 14 calls; mean delta frequency 798.38 ± 97.95 SD, range 581.48–969.13 s, n = 14 calls). Distress calls include a harsh, wailing creee call ( e.g., at 1.46 s; mean duration of 0.22 s ± 0.05 SD, range 0.15–0.29 s, n = 9 calls; mean peak frequency of 2,750.00 Hz ± 187.50 SD, range 2,625.00–3,187.50.00 Hz, n = 9 calls; mean delta frequency 938.02 ± 106.66 SD, range 796.84–1,076.81 s, n = 9 calls) and a hoarse, screechy cheeew call ( e.g., at 3.22 s).

Geographic Variation

There is no evidence for geographic variation in the calls of this species.

Phenology

Study needed.

Daily Pattern of Vocalizing

Study needed.

Places of Vocalizing

Temminck's Courser calls mainly in flight but occasionally from the ground. Distress calls are made from the ground.

Sex Differences

There is evidence of differences in flight calls within a group, but it is unknown whether these differences are sex-based.

Repertoire and Delivery of Songs

Study needed.

Social Context and Presumed Functions of Vocalizations

Study needed.