Beach thick-knee

Esacus giganteus

Photo by Greg Schechter (Wikipedia)

Common name:
beach thick-knee (en); alcaravão-dos-recifes (pt); œdicnème des récifs (fr); alcaraván picogruesso australiano (es); rifftriel (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Burhinidae

Range:
This species is found along the coasts of south-eastern Asia and northern and eastern  Australia, from the Andaman Islands, in India, through peninsular Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, and into the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and from northern Western Australia to south-eastern New South Wales, in Australia.

Size:
These birds are 55-57 cm long and weigh around 1 kg.

Habitat:
The beach thick-knee is found in various coastal habitats, mainly rocky and sandy intertidal, mudflats and tide pools, also using sea cliffs and rocky offshore islands, riffs and coral ridges, coastal lagoons, mangroves and salt marshes.

Diet:
They feed on marine invertebrates, particularly crabs such as the light blue soldier crab Mictyris longicarpus and the dark blue soldier crab M. platycheles.

Breeding:
Beach thick-knees breed in September-November. They nest on bare ground, usually on sandbanks, sandpits, or islands in estuaries, coral ridges, among mangroves or in sand surrounded by short grass and scattered trees. The female lays a single egg, which is incubated by both parents for 30 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, but remain under the care of both parents for 7-12 months.

Conservation:
IUCN status - NT (Near-Threatened)
This species has a very large breeding range, but the population is estimated at just 4.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to human disturbance of beach habitats, and predation by introduced mammals.

Stone-curlew

Burhinus oedicnemus

Photo by Aeschlimann Ruedi (Schweizerische Vogelwarte)

Common name:
stone-curlew (en); alcaravão (pt); œdicnème criard (fr); alcaraván (es); triel (de)


Taxonomy:
Order Charadriiformes
Family Burhinidae


Range:
This species is found breeding in southern Europe, from Portugal and Spain to southern England, through Italy and the Balkans, around the Black Sea and into the Caucasus and southern Russia. They also breed in northern Africa and in southern Asia from the Middle East to India, southern China and Myanmar. Some population migrate south to winter in southern Europe, southern Asia and northern Africa down to the Sahel.


Size:
These birds are 38-44 cm long and have a wingspan of 76-88 cm. They weigh 300-540 g.


Habitat:
The stone-curlew is typically found in dry rocky areas with very little vegetation. It often breeds in fallow land and set-aside fields, on grass heath, dry scrubland or sometimes in sand dunes.


Diet:
They mostly collect invertebrates from the ground, taking beetles, woodlice, earthworms, snails and spiders. They sometimes hunt small reptiles, bird eggs and chicks and small mammals.


Breeding:
Stone curlews breed in March-June. The nest is a simple scrape on bare ground, sometimes near a small bush, where the female lays 2 sand or clay-coloured eggs. The eggs are incubated by both parents for 25-27 days. The chicks leave the nest soon after hatching, but remain with the parents until they are able to fly, 5-6 weeks after hatching.


Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least concern)
This species has an extremely large breeding range and the global population is estimated at 130.000-310.000 individuals. The overall population trend is decreasing, although some populations have unknown trends and, in Europe, some populations are increasing.