Bush Stone-Curlew
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Bush Stone-curlew
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Burhinus grallarius Latham, 1802 |
The Bush Stone-curlew (Burhinus grallarius) is a large, ground-dwelling bird endemic to Australia. Although it looks rather like a wader and is related to the oystercatchers, avocets and plovers, it is a dry-land predator: essentially a winged terrestrial carnivore.
Like most stone-curlews, it is mainly nocturnal and specialises in hunting small grassland animals: frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken, mostly gleaned or probed from soft soil or rotting wood; also a few seeds or tubers, particularly in drought years. Birds usually forage individually or in pairs over a large home range, particularly on moonlit nights.
During the day, Bush Stone-curlews tend to remain inactive, sheltering amongst tall grass or low shrubs and relying on their cryptic plumage to protect them from their only natural predators: raptors. When disturbed, they freeze motionless, often in odd-looking postures. For visual predators like raptors (and humans), this works well, but it serves little purpose with introduced feral animals that hunt by scent: notably foxes.
Despite their ungainly appearance and habit of freezing motionless, they are sure-footed, fast and agile on the ground, and although they seldom fly during daylight hours, they are far from clumsy in the air; flight is rapid and direct on long, broad wings.
When threatened (presumably in the presence of a nest), they may raise their wings wide and high in an impressive threat posture and emit a loud hoarse hissing noise.
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[edit] Conservation Status
Bush Stone-curlews remain reasonably common in the north of Australia, but have become rare in the more fertile south. Many experts believe that fox predation is a prime factor in their decline, however there are areas where foxes are common yet the Bush Stone-curlew population remains healthy, so the true causes remain uncertain. Large-scale habitat destruction and fragmentation has undoubtedly been important, and may well be the major factor.
[edit] Australia
Bush Stone Curlew are not listed as threatened on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
[edit] New South Wales
Bush Stone Curlew are considered to be endangered in New South Wales under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.
[edit] Victoria
- Bush Stone Curlew are listed as threatened on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.[1] Under this Act, an Action Statement for the recovery and future management of this species has been prepared.[2]
- On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, this species is listed as endangered.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
- ^ Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria
- ^ Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (2007). Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2007. East Melbourne, Victoria: Department of Sustainability and Environment, 15. ISBN 978-1-74208-039-0.
- BirdLife International (2004). Burhinus grallarius. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened