Great Stone-curlew
Esacus recurvirostris
The Great Stone-curlew (Esacus recurvirostris) is a rare thick-knees and stone-curlew found in 15 countries, weighing about 790 g. 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.
About the Great Stone-curlew
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.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The great thick-knee is a large wader at 49–55 cm, and has a massive 7 cm bill with the lower mandible with a sharp angle giving it an upturned appearance. It has unstreaked grey-brown upperparts and breast, with rest of the underparts whitish. The face has a striking black and white pattern, and the bill is black with a yellow base. The eyes are bright yellow and the legs a duller greenish-yellow. In flight, the great thick-knee shows black and white flight feathers on the upperwing, and a mainly white underwing. Sexes are similar, but young birds are slightly paler than adults.
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in Hong Kong SAR China.
When to see it
Best months: January, February, March, April, October, November, December, with peak activity in February. It is a winter visitor species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Great Stone-curlew?
- The great thick-knee is a large wader at 49–55 cm, and has a massive 7 cm bill with the lower mandible with a sharp angle giving it an upturned appearance. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Great Stone-curlew?
- The Great Stone-curlew is a large sized bird weighing about 790 g.
- Where can you see a Great Stone-curlew?
- The Great Stone-curlew occurs in 15 countries, including India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Thailand and Nepal.
- What birds look similar to a Great Stone-curlew?
- The Great Stone-curlew is most easily confused with the Beach Stone-curlew.
- Is the Great Stone-curlew endangered?
- The Great Stone-curlew is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Great Stone-curlew for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.