The Bush Stone-curlew has large yellow eyes and long thin legs. Its colouring is mostly grey-brown above, with bold black and rufous streaks. It has buff and white underparts with black streaks. Young birds are similar in colour, but are generally paler.
Distinctive feature
A prominent white eyebrow
Size
54 – 59 cm; wingspan is 82 – 105 cm
Behaviour
Call
A drawn-out, mournful "wer-loooo", often heard at dusk and at night..
Diet
It eats insects and other arthropods, molluscs, small lizards, seeds and occasionally small mammals, which are taken from the ground at night.
Movement
Usually sedentary, with some local movements when not breeding.
Breeding
One to three eggs are laid in a shallow scrape in the ground or on a small bare batch. Both adults incubate the eggs and care for the young. As a prelude to breeding, the species performs a courtship dance where multiple birds stand facing one another, bobbing and bowing to one another, then following one another about in a crouched posture.
Field Guide
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