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Bush Stone Curlew

Burhinus grallarius

Description:

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. Length 54–59 cm; wingspan 82–105 cm; weight: male 670 g, female 625 g.

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.

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1 Comment

williefromwi
williefromwi 11 years ago

wonderfully detailed photo of your spotting, well done!

MacChristiansen
Spotted by
MacChristiansen

Queensland, Australia

Spotted on Aug 10, 2012
Submitted on Aug 10, 2012

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