The great stone-curlew, also known as the great thick-knee, is found in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and into Southeast Asia.
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| Great stone-curlew |
It has gray/brown upper parts and white lower parts.
The face is white with a black stripe behind the eye. The bill is black with a yellow base, the eyes are yellow, and the legs are a dull greenish/yellow. The lower beak has a sharp angle which gives the beak an upturned appearance.
It is mainly nocturnal and likes gravel banks along rivers, lakes and beaches. It lays a single egg on a scrape in the ground. We saw two great stone-curlews in Bundala National Park. One was wading near a small stream and one was sitting on a nest on bare ground.
It doesn't look all that thick-kneed to me. Where does the name come from?
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