Indian stone-curlew
Indian stone-curlew | |
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calls | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Burhinidae |
Genus: | Burhinus |
Species: | B. indicus
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Binomial name | |
Burhinus indicus (Salvadori, 1866)
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range
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Synonyms | |
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The Indian stone-curlew or Indian thick-knee (Burhinus indicus) is a species of
Taxonomy
The Indian stone-curlew was
This species was formerly treated as a subspecies of the
There has however been no major phylogenetic study of the genus.Description
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]
Distribution and habitat
Found in dry deciduous forests and thorn forest, scrubby riverbeds, groves and even gardens.[6] This species is restricted to
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
Food and feeding
The diet mainly consists of insects, worms and small reptiles and occasionally some seeds.[9]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Illiger, Johann Karl Wilhelm (1811). Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium (in Latin). Berolini [Berlin]: Sumptibus C. Salfeld. p. 250.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ISBN 978-84-96553-87-3.
- ^ Inskipp, Tim; Collar, N.J (2015). "Notable taxonomic changes proposed for Asian birds in 2014" (PDF). Birding Asia. 24: 64–71.
- ^ Whistler, Hugh (1949). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (4 ed.). London: Gurney and Jackson. pp. 450–451.
- ^ ISBN 019565936-8.