Stone-curlew
The stone-curlews, also known as dikkops or thick-knees, consist of ten 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 semi-arid habitats.
| Stone-curlews Temporal range: Late Oligocene to present
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| File:Bush Stone-Curlew.png | |
| Bush Stone-Curlew, Burhinus grallarius | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Aequorlitornithes |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Parvoroder: | Chionida |
| Family: | Burhinidae Mathews, 1912 |
| Genera | |
Taxonomy edit
The family Burhinidae was introduced in 1912 for the stone-curlews by the Australian ornithologist Gregory Mathews.[1][2] The family contains two genera: Burhinus and Esacus.[3] The name Burhinus combines the Ancient Greek bous meaning "ox" and rhis, rhinos meaning "nose" (or "bill").[4]
Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the family Burhinidae is sister to a clade containing the sheathbills in the family Chionidae and the Magellanic Plover in its own family Scolopacidae. The stone-curlews are not closely related to the curlews, genus Numenius, that belong to the sandpiper family Scolopacidae.[5]
Description edit
They are medium to large birds with strong black or yellow black bills, large yellow eyes—which give them a reptilian appearance—and cryptic plumage. The names thick-knee and stone-curlew are both in common use. The term stone-curlew owes its origin to the broad similarities with true curlews. Thick-knee refers to the prominent joints in the long yellow or greenish legs and apparently originated with a name coined in 1776 for B. oedicnemus, the Eurasian stone-curlew. Obviously the heel (ankle) and the knee are confused here.[6]
Species edit
A fossil genus Wilaru, described from the Late Oligocene to the Early Miocene of Australia, was originally classified as a stone-curlew; however, it was subsequently argued to be a member of the extinct anseriform family Presbyornithidae instead.[7] The ten living species are:
Oedicnemus edit
- Eurasian Stone-Curlew, Oedicnemus oedicnemus
- Indian Stone-Curlew, Oedicnemus indicus
- Senegal Thick-knee, Oedicnemus senegalensis
- Water Thick-knee, Oedicnemus vermiculatus
- Spotted Thick-knee, Oedicnemus capensis
"Burhinus" edit
- Double-striped Thick-knee, "Burhinus" bistriatus
- Peruvian Thick-knee, "Burhinus" superciliaris
Burhinus edit
- Bush Stone-Curlew, Burhinus grallarius (formerly B. magnirostris, the bush thick-knee).
Esacus edit
- Great Stone-Curlew, Esacus recurvirostris
- Beach Stone-Curlew, Esacus neglectus
References edit
- ^ Mathews, Gregory (1912). "A reference-list to the birds of Australia". Novitates Zoologicae. 18 (3): 171-455 [225].
- ^ Bock, Walter J. (1994). History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. Number 222. New York: American Museum of Natural History. pp. 112–113, 137, 247.
- ^ 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 29 May 2021.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Kuhl, H.; Frankl-Vilches, C.; Bakker, A.; Mayr, G.; Nikolaus, G.; Boerno, S.T.; Klages, S.; Timmermann, B.; Gahr, M. (2020). "An unbiased molecular approach using 3′-UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life". Molecular Biology and Evolution (msaa191). doi:10.1093/molbev/msaa191.
- ^ Kochan, Jack B. (1994). Feet & Legs. Birds. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2515-4.
- ^ Vanesa L. De Pietri, R. Paul Scofield, Nikita Zelenkov, Walter E. Boles and Trevor H. Worthy (2016). "The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae". Royal Society Open Science. 3 (2): 150635. doi:10.1098/rsos.150635.
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External links edit
- Thick-knees videos on the Internet Bird Collection
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