Bush Stone Curlew

Last Wednesday I showed you the Australian bird, the Beach Stone Curlew and it might be an idea if you did not see that post to look at it so that you can see the difference between it and today's bird, the Bush Stone Curlew.  At the end of this post, there will be a short video.

The Bush Stone-Curlew or Bush Thick-knee (Burhinus grallarius, obsolete name Burhinus magnirostris) is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Aussie locals call them thick-knees but proper bird watchers identify as Bush Stone Curlew.  

Although it looks rather like a wader and is related to the Oystercatchers, Avocets and Plovers, it is a terrestrial predator filling a similar ecological niche to the roadrunners of North America. 

Perhaps you can now see why they are called 'thick knee'.

During the day, Bush Stone-curlews tend to remain inactive, sheltering amongst tall grass or low shrubs and relying on their cryptic plumage to protect them from predators. When disturbed, they freeze motionless, often in odd-looking postures. For visual predators like raptors (and humans), this works well, but it serves little purpose with animals that hunt by scent such as foxes, dingoes or goannas.

Look how camouflaged they are.  At first you may only see 2 birds

however there are 3 Bush Stone Curlews.

Like most stone-curlews, it is mainly nocturnal and specialises in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken, mostly gleaned or probed from soft soil or rotting wood; also a few seeds or tubers, particularly in drought years. Birds usually forage individually or in pairs over a large home range, particularly on moonlit nights.

Despite their ungainly appearance and habit of freezing motionless, they are sure-footed, fast and agile on the ground, and although they seldom fly during daylight hours, they are far from clumsy in the air; flight is rapid and direct on long, broad wings.

The Bush Stone-curlew is probably heard more than it's seen. Its call sounds like a wail or a scream in the night. When scared, it screeches - a sound similar to the screech of a possum. When threatened (presumably in the presence of a nest), they may raise their wings wide and high in an impressive threat posture and emit a loud, hoarse hissing noise.

Feeding: 

Bush Stone-curlews have a wide-ranging diet, but prefer to feed on insects, small lizards, seeds and occasionally small mammals. Feeding takes place at night. During the breeding season, nesting birds will search for food in the vicinity of the nest site, while at other times, birds may travel large distances. All food is taken from the ground.

Breeding: 

Bush Stone-curlews have a remarkable courtship dance. Individuals stand with their wings outstretched, their tail upright and their neck stretched slightly forward. The birds will stamp their feet up and down, like a soldier marking time. This courtship ritual is repeated for an hour or more at a time and is accompanied by loud and constant calling. Eggs are laid in a shallow scrape in the ground and both adults share the incubation and care for the young.

 I hope you enjoyed reading and seeing the Bush Stone Curlew and can see the difference between it and the Beach Stone Curlew 

I showed you last Wednesday.

The short video can be accessed at

 http://youtu.be/KzkN8iYFvnU

If you see a black space below, click it and the video will appear.

Listen carefully and you will heard the surrounding bird noises.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you will look in again soon.

I am linking this post with Wild Bird Wednesday.