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Eurasian Stone-curlew
Burhinus oedicnemus
Identify the Eurasian Stone-curlew by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Eurasian Stone-curlew is a medium-large, long-legged wader with striking yellow eyes, a stout yellow-and-black bill and cryptic brown plumage. It prefers dry, open, often stony ground and is most active at night, when its wailing, curlew-like calls carry far. It breeds across much of Europe, North Africa and south-western Asia, and temperate populations winter in Africa.
Did you know?
- Its nickname “thick-knee” refers to its prominent leg joints.
- Despite being a wader, it favours dry, stony ground far from water.
Voice
About the species
Identification
A large, brown-streaked, long-legged wader with big yellow eyes, a thick bill (yellow at the base, black at the tip) and strong legs. In flight bold black-and-white wing bars stand out. Its size (41–43 cm, wingspan about 82 cm), sturdy build and wing pattern separate it from other waders.
Family
Burhinidae
Size
Large (crow)
Colours
brown, white, yellow, black
About the habitat
Open, dry landscapes with patches of bare or stony ground: steppe, heath, dunes, stony fields and farmland with sparse cover.
Diet
Mainly insects such as beetles and grasshoppers, earthworms and snails, with occasional small reptiles, frogs and rodents.
Behaviour
Largely nocturnal and crepuscular; by day it rests or stands motionless, relying on camouflage. When approached it often crouches or runs rather than flies. It nests in a simple scrape on open ground; both parents incubate and care for the precocial young.
Sources
Photo: Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burhinus oedicnemus insularum Lanzarote 1.jpg
Sound: Pablo Maurin, XC1105684, CC BY 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1105684
Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_stone-curlew
