From Opus

Alternative name: Eurasian Thick-knee

Photo by postcardcv
Weeting NWT, Norfolk, England, July 2007

Burhinus oedicnemus

[edit] Identification

38-45cm

• Plumage sandy-brown, streaked darker
• Black and white markings on the wings
• Black-tipped yellow bill
• Large yellow iris
• Prominent joints in long yellow or green legs

Photo by Assen Ignatov
April 2008

[edit] Distribution

Western Palearctic, tropical north Africa and Asia.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies

There are 5 subspecies^[1]:

• B. o. distinctus:

• Western Canary Islands

• B. o. insularum:

• Eastern Canary Islands

• B. o. saharae:

• Northern Africa, Mediterranean islands., Greece, Turkey to Iraq and Iran

• B. o. oedicnemus:

• Southern Britain and Iberian Peninsula to northern Balkans and Caucasus

• B. o. harterti:

• Volga River to Turkestan, Pakistan and extreme north-western India

Indian Stone-curlew was formerly considered a subspecies of this species.

[edit] Habitat

Breeds on dry sparsely vegetated open ground. On migration may be seen on sea coasts.

[edit] Behaviour

Mostly nocturnal. Outside the breeding season they can gather in large flocks.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects, small invertebrates and lizards.

[edit] Breeding

The nest is a bare ground scrape. Two, maybe 3 eggs are laid. They are heavily blotched and streaked with brownish markings on a buff background.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: a Eurasian Curlew-like coo-lee

[edit] References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Wikipedia
3. Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
4. Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
5. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
6. The Observer's Book of Birds' Eggs 0723200602

• List of references

[edit] External Links