 Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius
Length 54–59 cm; wingspan 82–105 cm; weight: male 670 g, female 625 g.
The Bush Stone-curlew occurs singly, in pairs or loose groups. It is generally inactive during the day, standing quietly in the shadows under trees with its eyes half-closed, or squatting on the ground, resting on its tarsi (bent forwards under its body), when its cryptic plumage makes it difficult to see. Stone-curlews are usually nocturnal. They are usually shy and extremely wary, and move slowly and deliberately, with a characteristic gait in which the head is held low and the feet are placed deliberately. If a Stone-curlew is approached too closely, it may freeze prostrate, walk away with its head held erect, or run furtively with its head lowered. If pressed, it may fly some distance with quick stiff beats of strongly bowed wings and its feet and part of its tarsi trailing beyond the tip of its tail. Highly vocal, the species’ distinctive loud, eerie, high-pitched, wailing song is most commonly heard at night, when sometimes several birds call in a chorus.
HABITAT
The Bush Stone-curlew inhabits lightly timbered open forest and woodland with a ground-cover of short sparse grass and few or no shrubs, with the floor carpeted with dry leaves, often with some fallen dead timber, or partly cleared farmland with remnants of woodland, or River Red Gums along dry watercourses. The species is often associated with casuarina woodlands but inhabits those vegetated with eucalypts, acacias or Epolycarpa, and also occurs in dry open grassland (natural or sown) and croplands, usually near some cover. In coastal areas, Bush Stone-curlews are sometimes recorded in sandy scrub near beaches, the fringes of mangroves and saltmarsh, especially where these are bordered by thickets of casuarinas, though they seldom occur on beaches or in sand dunes.
DISTRIBUTION
Though widespread in northern and north-eastern Australia, the Bush Thick-knee also occurs in south-eastern Australia, where its range is scattered and patchy, and in non-desert areas of Western Australia.
STATUS
- Endangered in New South Wales
- Endangered in Victoria
- Rare in South Australia
THREATS
Populations of the Bush Stone-curlew have declined through the destruction of its habitat by clearing, overgrazing and burning. However, partly cleared broad-acre farming is not considered detrimental, and birds are often recorded in partly cleared paddocks with pasture or crops, and may persist in wheat-growing areas and even in thistle-infested paddocks. Uncleared remnants of woodland along roadsides and rivers are important for the survival of this species. Many early writers believed foxes (which eat eggs and birds) to be the main cause of local extinctions, and although the establishment of foxes coincided with the decline or local extinction of Thick-knees in some regions, populations of the species still persist in areas where foxes are common. Thick-knees are also killed by domestic cats and dogs. Formerly, many were killed after eating poisoned pollard laid to control rabbits.
MOVEMENTS
Sedentary. The species is territorial during the breeding season, but may make some local movements at other times.
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