Bush Stone-curlew (pair)

The bush stone-curlew, aka bush thick-knee, is a large, slim, mainly nocturnal, ground-dwelling bird that's endemic to Australia. Although related to oystercatchers, avocets and plovers, this is a terrestrial predator filling an ecological niche similar to that of the roadrunners of North America. Curlews specialise in hunting small grassland animals - frogs, spiders, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, snakes, lizards and small mammals are all taken. Curlews also nest on the ground, and that makes them particularly vulnerable. This species is classified as endangered in NSW and Victoria. They range throughout most of Australia and were formerly quite common, but have declined in numbers through habitat loss and predation by foxes and feral cats. Other states are reasonably secure.