Indian Stone-curlew

The Indian stone-curlew, or Indian thick-knee, is a stocky, plover-like ground bird about 41cm long, sandy brown with dark streaks, large yellow eyes and stout legs with the thick knees that name the family. A dark stripe borders a creamy stripe below the eye, and there is a narrow creamy eyebrow. In flight it shows white patches on the dark primaries, and at rest a broad pale wing band. The sexes are alike. It was long treated as a subspecies of the Eurasian stone-curlew but differs in plumage and does not migrate (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in dry deciduous and thorn forest, scrubby riverbeds, groves and fallow land, often in small groups that stand still in the shade of a bush by day. It is active mainly at dawn and dusk and calls mostly at night, a series of sharp whistled pick-pick notes. The two or three stone-coloured eggs are laid in a scrape on bare ground, incubated mainly by the female while the male stands guard, and the camouflaged chicks follow their parents soon after hatching. In India it is resident with a large range; SoIB 2023 has too little data for a trend and rates it a Low conservation priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).