Indian stone-curlew

Last updated

Indian stone-curlew
Indian stone-curlew in Nasirpur, Patiala 01 (cropped).jpg
calls
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Burhinidae
Genus: Burhinus
Species:
B. indicus
Binomial name
Burhinus indicus
(Salvadori, 1866)
Burhinus indicus range.jpg
  range
Synonyms
  • Oedicnemus indicus
  • Burhinus oedicnemus indicus

The Indian stone-curlew or Indian thick-knee (Burhinus indicus) is a species of bird in the family Burhinidae. It was formerly included as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew. This species is found in the plains of South and South-eastern Asia. They have large eyes and are brown with streaks and pale marks making it hard to spot against the background of soils and rocks. Mostly active in the dark, they produce calls similar to the true curlews, giving them their names.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Indian stone-curlew was formally described in 1866 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori based on specimens obtained in India. He coined the binomial name Oedicnemus indicus. [2] The specific epithet is Latin meaning "Indian". [3] The Indian stone-curlew is now placed in the genus Burhinus that was erected in 1811 by the German zoologist Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger in 1811. [4] [5] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. [5]

This species was formerly treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus but the Indian population is distinctive in plumage, and non-migratory, leading to its being treated as a full species by Pamela Rasmussen in 2005. [6] [7] There has however been no major phylogenetic study of the genus.

Description

The large eyes indicate nocturnality Burhinus indicus, central India.jpg
The large eyes indicate nocturnality

This stocky and brown ground bird with large eyes is about 41 centimeters in length. It has dark streaks on a sandy brown ground colour and is plover-like. The large head has a dark stripe bordering a creamy moustachial stripe below the eye. There is also a narrow creamy supercilium. [8] The legs are stout and the knees are thick, giving them the group of name of "thick-knee". They have large yellow eyes. The sexes are alike and the immature is paler than adult with more marked buff and streaks on the underparts. In flight, they have two prominent white and a white patch on the darker primaries and at rest a broad pale band is visible on the wing. [9] [6]

The Indian stone curlew is active mainly at dawn and dusk and it calls mainly at night. The call is a series of sharp whistling notes pick-pick-pick-pick ending sometimes like pick-wick, pick-wick. They are found in small groups and during the day, they are found standing still under the shade of bush. [9]

Adult with chick crouching beside it Eurasian thick-knee.jpg
Adult with chick crouching beside it

Distribution and habitat

Found in dry deciduous forests and thorn forest, scrubby riverbeds, groves and even gardens. [6] This species is restricted to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. [1] It is found in thin dry deciduous forest, scrub, stony hillsides and fallow lands. [9]

Roosting in shade Indian Stone Curlew.jpg
Roosting in shade

Behaviour

Breeding

The breeding season is mainly March and April. The normal clutch is 2 to 3 stone colored eggs laid inside a scrape on bare ground, sometimes at the base of a bush. The eggs are incubate mainly by the female with male standing guard nearby. The nidifugous chicks are downy and cryptically coloured and follow the parents soon after hatching. The young chicks freeze and crouch when alarmed and the cryptic plumage makes them hard to detect. [9]

Food and feeding

The diet mainly consists of insects, worms and small reptiles and occasionally some seeds. [9]

Related Research Articles

Stone-curlew Family of birds

The stone-curlews, also known as dikkops or thick-knees, consist of 10 species within the family Burhinidae, and are found throughout the tropical and temperate parts of the world, with two or more species occurring in some areas of Africa, Asia, and Australia. Despite the group being classified as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semiarid habitats.

Bush stone-curlew Species of bird

The bush stone-curlew or bush thick-knee is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Its favoured habitat is open plains and woodlands, where it stalks slowly at night in search of invertebrates such as insects. Its grey-brown coloration is distinguished by dark streaks, its eyes are large and legs are long. It is capable of flight, but relies on the camouflage of its plumage to evade detection during the day; the bush curlew adopts a rigid posture when it becomes aware of an observer. Both sexes care for two eggs laid on the bare ground, usually sited near bush in a shaded position or next to a fallen branch.

Eurasian stone-curlew Species of bird

The Eurasian stone-curlew, Eurasian thick-knee, or simply stone-curlew is a northern species of the Burhinidae (stone-curlew) bird family.

Senegal thick-knee Species of bird

The Senegal thick-knee is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. Their vernacular scientific name refers to the prominent joints in the long yellow or greenish legs.

Great stone-curlew Species of bird

The great stone-curlew or great thick-knee is a large wader which is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh into South-east Asia.

Double-striped thick-knee Species of bird

The double-striped thick-knee is a stone-curlew, a group of waders in the family Burhinidae. The vernacular name refers to the prominent joints in the long greenish-grey legs, and bistriatus to the two stripes of the head pattern.

Lesser coucal Species of bird

The lesser coucal is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It has a wide distribution range that overlaps with several other similar species. The habitat in which it is found is often marshy land with grass and tree cover. It is distinguished by its smaller size, less prominent bill, pale shaft streaks on the feathers of the head and back. It has a much longer claw on its hind toe and a distinct call. It is also among the few coucals that show season plumage differences but like in other coucals, the sexes cannot be distinguished in the field.

Peruvian thick-knee Species of bird

The Peruvian thick-knee is a species of bird in the family Burhinidae. It is found in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, and pastureland. It is a ground-dwelling bird and feeds on insects and small animals.

<i>Burhinus</i> Genus of birds

Burhinus is a genus of birds in the family Burhinidae. This family also contains the genus Esacus. The genus name Burhinus comes from the Greek bous, ox, and rhis, nose.

<i>Esacus</i> Genus of birds

Esacus is a genus of bird in the stone-curlew family Burhinidae. The genus is distributed from Pakistan and India to Australia. It contains two species, the great stone-curlew and the beach stone-curlew.

Brown-cheeked rail Species of bird

The brown-cheeked rail or eastern water rail is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It breeds in northern Mongolia, eastern Siberia, northeast China, Korea and northern Japan, and winters in southeast Asia. It used to be considered a subspecies of the water rail.

References

Blending with its environment Eurasian Thick-knee (Burhinus oedicnemus) in Hyderabad W IMG 4543.jpg
Blending with its environment
  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Burhinus indicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T45111544A95142370. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T45111544A95142370.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ↑ Salvadori, Tommaso (1865). "Descrizione di altre nuove specie di uccelli esistenti nel Museo di Torina: Nota Seconda". Atti della Società italiana di scienze naturali (in Italian). 8: 275–389 [380–381]. Although 1865 is printed on the title page, the article was not published until 1866.
  3. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 204. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. ↑ Illiger, Johann Karl Wilhelm (1811). Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium (in Latin). Berolini [Berlin]: Sumptibus C. Salfeld. p. 250.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2021). "Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes". IOC World Bird List Version 11.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Rasmussen, Pamela C.; Anderton, John C. (2005). Birds of South Asia The Ripley Guide Volume 2: Attributes and Status (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C and Barcelona: Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. pp. 181–182. ISBN   978-84-96553-87-3.
  7. ↑ Inskipp, Tim; Collar, N.J (2015). "Notable taxonomic changes proposed for Asian birds in 2014" (PDF). Birding Asia. 24: 64–71.
  8. ↑ Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (4 ed.). London: Gurney and Jackson. pp. 450–451.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Ali, Sálim; Ripley, S. Dillon (1978). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan : together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Volume 3 Stone Curlews to Owls (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN   019565936-8.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.